Social Systems Theory

Social groups that are characterized by the presence of male kin are rare in mammals. Theory predicts that males reproducing in such groups need to overcome the costs of local mate competition, which are supposedly severe in polygynous or promiscuous mating systems. Here, we studied in a polygynous mammal with male philopatry whether male group size renders direct fitness benefits for males that could outweigh the costs of competing with related males for access to territories and mates. We used long-term behavioral observations and genetic data of the greater sac-winged bat to investigate the factors affecting lifetime breeding success (LBS) of harem males living in colonies that contain varying numbers of male residents. We show that tenure of harem males increased with the number of male coresidents and that harem male tenure explained a large proportion of variation in their LBS. Thus, our results provide evidence that males gain direct fitness benefits from a social organization in colonies that include additional harem territories and nonharem males. Immigration of males into colonies was significantly lower when nonharem males (young males that are often related to harem males) were permanently present in colonies, suggesting that larger male groups may be better able to maintain a patriline in a colony and thus also ensure future indirect fitness benefits.

This paper intends to develop a theoretical framework for the analysis of nature- culture relations and their policy implications, with a special emphasis on spatial planning policies. It draws heavily on Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory, borrowing its key concepts from him: system, environment, de- differentiation, decoupling, de-paradoxification, autopoiesis. Systems theory is used to deepen the understanding of actual and desirable policy- making in Romania’s Danube Delta area, a region marked by high attributed natural values, a remarkable cultural complexity, high pressures on culture and nature, an instable emerging democracy. It is argued that western notions of state, planning, nature, single land use, democracy, economy potentially cause more trouble in this area than in the west itself. And that a self- organizing democratic system, informed by natural and social sciences, is a prerequisite for whatever ecologically inspired policy. In such a system, a post- modern planning administration, combining many images of nature and culture, and accepting multiple land use, should find its place.

"The EU is a structure which is positioned “in-between” hierarchically organized nation-state governing structures and heterarchically structured global governance structures. Thus, the EU is a hybrid which partly relies on governing and partly on governance. This two-dimensionality is the central reason why the question of the constitutional character of the EU remains fundamentally unresolved. Thus, it is proposed that the EU should aim for the development of a constitutional form aimed at alleviating the tensions inherent in the European construction through a conflict of laws approach. In order to respect the hybridity of the Union, such an approach will however have to be based on a three-dimensional conflict of laws concept insofar as it would have to take account of horizontal conflicts between territorial units, vertical conflicts between the EU and its ember states as well as horizontal conflicts between the functionally differentiated structures of the wider society.
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"States remain a central form of ordering but only one among several. In the transnational space, a wide range of autonomous public- and private-norm producing organizations and regimes operates, which is not, or only partly controlled, by states. The consequence is that the contemporary world is characterized by a multiplicity of overlapping normative orders that rely on different organizational principles: for example, some are territorially bound and some are functionally delineated. Governance structures have emerged as the form through which the multiplicity of orders is linked together. They are inter-contextual forms which simultaneously serve as buffer zones and transmission belts between these orders. As such, governance structures can be understood as institutional mechanisms that fulfill the function of ensuring the societal embeddedness of autonomous normative orders in the wider world through increased reflexivity.

The type of law which has emerged in order to structure the governance phenomenon reflects the societal function of governance structures. Transnational law is an “in between worlds” law in the sense that a central aspect of transnational law is the framing of learning processes capable of ensuring mutual adaptability between normative orders. As such transnational law fulfills a different function than nation-state law which in essence remains oriented towards the upholding of already established normative expectations. As governance structures are the no man’s land between normative orders, they possess an intrinsic political quality. They are the battlefields were the delineation of normative orders are established and continuously reaffirmed. Grasping the kind of political processes unfolding within governance structures is however conditioned by the development of a concept of the political which reflects the inter-contextual function of governance structures.
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In dit artikel beargumenteren we dat een transformatie van het Nederlandse beleidssysteem dat verantwoordelijk is voor het behoud van archeologie heeft bijgedragen aan de uitsluiting van een bijzondere associatie in de vrije tijd, de amateur-archeologen. We beschrijven de rollen en de bijdragen van de amateur- archeologen en zetten uiteen welke (vaak onbedoelde) consequenties de implementatie van het Verdrag van Malta heeft voor de Nederlandse archeologie. Een aantal mechanismen die bijdragen aan de geslotenheid van het archeologisch beleidsysteem en aan de uitsluiting van de amateur-archeologen wordt geëxpliciteerd. Deze mechanismen zijn gedestilleerd uit de amateur-archeologen casus maar zijn ruim verspreid in andere contexten waarin burgers en overheden interageren.

The current study uses a survey instrument to examine parenting coordination through the lens of Bronfenbrenner's Person, Process, Context, Time (PPCT) model. The survey focused on contextual factors such as statutes, local rules, interpersonal characteristics, dynamics of the clients, and background characteristics of parenting coordinators. Responses from a sample of PCs were obtained using list serves and a snowball sampling procedure. Results included the extent to which the parenting coordination process occurs through email and other technology rather than in-person sessions. Mental health disorders and inability to pay were primary barriers to the PC process.

"Gunther Teubner has raised the question of "What comes after the state?" Behind the question lies the insight that society is currently undergoing deep structural transformations in the sense that state-centered society, which was a strong characteristic of 19th and 20th century society, is fading away at the same time as new forms of trans-national structures continuously gain in importance. One of the many consequences of this development is, seemingly, that the political system is no longer capable of serving as the primary "partner" of the legal system, thereby reducing the impact of democratic decision-making on the legal system. Teubner`s theory of reflexive law thus needs to be complemented by a theory of reflexive politics.
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This paper examines the phenomenon of organizing global terrorism. Based on the emerging perspective to understand communication as constitutive of organization (CCO), we reconceptualize terrorist organizations as essentially consisting of communicative events. At this, CCO allows for studying the emergence, stabilization, and destabilization of terrorist organizing.

It is argued that to define social systems as non-biological is to deny their intrinsic biological groundedness which affects their complex system dynamics.  In the case of human social systems, the ecological phenomenon of human society should not be confused with human social organizations as cultural artifacts.

This article shows that the concept of choice is central to Isaiah Berlin’s liberalism. It argues that his valuing of choice is anchored in a particular conception of human nature, one that assumes and presupposes free will. Berlin’s works sketch a metaphysics of choice, and his reluctance to openly situate himself on the debate on free will is unconvincing. By introducing the theory of autopoiesis, this article further suggests that there is a way to take Berlin’s value pluralism seriously, by considering sets of values as autopoietic conscious systems. Drawing on the works of Maturana and Varela in biology and Luhmann in sociology, autopoiesis strengthens value pluralism and acts as a critique of liberalism. By putting objectivity in parenthesis, autopoiesis finally allows for value systems to coexist side by side in a stronger sense than Berlin’s liberalism ever could.

The emerging process view in organization studies conceptualizes organizations as fluid streams of organizing. If, however, organizations are conceived as consisting of something as ephemeral as processes, the question arises how the organization is then able to interconnect the very processes that constitute its existence. For studying this issue of connectivity we draw on one particular stream of process theorizing, that is, the theory of social systems by Niklas Luhmann. He argues that organizations are fundamentally grounded in paradox: they continuously require both to visibilize and to invisibilize the inherent contingency (i.e. alternativity) of processes in order to allow for interconnectivity between them. In this paper, we therefore examine one organizational form where the connectivity between processes is particularly at stake: the project organization. We present the findings of an empirical case study at a globally operating business consulting firm. The study involved the quantitative and qualitative analysis of 565 textual documents collected from cross-project learning databases as well as 14 qualitative interviews. We found that usually all that remains after a project has been completed is a collection of highly condensed PowerPoint documents. The narratives contained in those documents focused on consistency (e.g. highlighting "best practices" or "success stories") rather than contingency (e.g., doubts, mistakes, or alternative paths considered). Consequently, the processuality and contingency of each project remained opaque to non-participants. This also found expression in established practices of hiding the elephant, i.e. disguising the vast contingencies inherent to the processes that constitute the organization.

Neste artigo analisa‑se a participação do terceiro setor nas parcerias locais, estratégicas e multissetoriais que constituíram o projeto da Terceira Via para a coordenação do bem‑estar social. Observa‑se, a partir de um estudo de caso etnográfico, um espaço/tempo onde se negoceia a governação, assumindo‑se como ponto de entrada o terceiro setor, que deve participar nesse projeto de governação. Mobiliza‑se o aparelho conceptual da teoria luhmaniana dos sistemas sociais autopoiéticos para descrever e analisar a tentativa de um grupo de organizações do terceiro setor de desenhar uma estrutura de representação deste numa Parceria Local Estratégica, em Inglaterra. A partir da observação das decisões tomadas num conjunto de reuniões, discute‑se a redução da complexidade e os paradoxos da participação do terceiro setor no modo de governação em rede.

In this paper we will consider the implications of Meta-systems Engineering for Intelligent Enterprises. We may think of this as the dark side of intelligent enterprise systems. Our essay is a search for light at the end of this tunnel by employing the theory of Special  Systems and the Emergent Meta-system. This work brings together advanced theories in order to  redefine the nature of the Intelligent Enterprise and Enterprise in general.