The Historical Context

Abstract

Systems theory grew out of the confluence of certain theoretical positions drawn from biology, cybernetics, sociology, and systems engineering after World War II, but it has long cultural antecedents. As General System Theory (Von Bertalanffy), it sought to provide an overarching terminology and a generic description of processes that were common to differing scientific disciplines.

The Habermas/Luhmann debate of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s focused attention on several problems involved with applying systems theory to social processes. The subsequent theories of Habermas, Luhmann, and the burgeoning of diverse systems approaches prompt us to reconsider the question: To what degree can systems theory be applied to social processes in theoretically and ethically sound ways? Of particular importance are complexity/ bifurcation/ component systems thinking and autopoiesis. In large part, this book provides an explication of these two theories and their relevance to social processes.