Special Issue of Information Technology & People (SSCI 5.6, Scopus Q1, CABS***, FNEGE***, VHB***) on

Coding society. Programmatic encounters between information systems and social theory

Guest Editors: 

Steffen Roth, Excelia Business School, France; University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Tilia Stingl de Vasconcelos Guedes, Vienna University of Applied Sciences for Management and Communication, Austria; Next Society Institute, Kazimieras Simonavičius University, Lithuania

Kresimir Zazar, University of Zagreb, Croatia; Next Society Institute, Kazimieras Simonavičius University, Lithuania

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 16/01/2026

This special issue aims to explore programmes as architectures of code that shape and are shaped by the social deployment of digital technologies. Drawing on Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory, it examines how programmes function not only within digital infrastructures but also as cultural forms, guiding distinctions, and interfaces between functional systems and organisations. Contributions will investigate how programmes structure inclusion and exclusion, organise social attention, reproduce stratified orders, and mediate between analogue and digital modes of communication. The special issue links these theoretical concerns to contemporary developments in artificial intelligence, platform infrastructures, and the programmability of social life. It invites interdisciplinary research that reflects critically on how programmes operate at the core of digital society—both as enabling scripts and as mechanisms of constraint. The issue will include contributions from the 2025 Luhmann Conference while remaining open to diverse methodologies and paradigms that engage with the social dimensions of ICT.

Our special issue offers a novel contribution by reintroducing programmes as a foundational yet under-explored concept for understanding the social architectures of digital society. While the language of programming is ubiquitous in computing, this issue shifts attention to how programmes function as decision premises, “moral codes”, and interfaces between organisations and function systems. It is the first collection to bring together Luhmannian systems theory and contemporary ICT research around the guiding distinction of programme/code—linking classic theories of social order with current debates on artificial intelligence, platform governance, digital inclusion/exclusion, and algorithmic control. The issue will chart how programme operate both within digital technologies and as technologies of social ordering. In doing so, it expands the conceptual vocabulary of socio-technical research and invites critical engagement with the often-invisible logics that shape digitally mediated societies. This interdisciplinary synthesis is original in scope, relevant in timing, and generative for future research.

The rise of algorithmic governance, platform infrastructures, and generative AI has redefined how societies organise attention, structure inclusion and exclusion, and reproduce institutional orders. Yet the underlying programmes—both technical and social—that mediate these transformations remain insufficiently theorised. Recent scholarship across digital sociology, systems theory, and information systems points to a growing interest in the architectures of code that underlie digital transformation.

However, few studies explicitly link these developments to systemic theories of social order. Our special issue responds to that gap. It builds on the Luhmann Conference 2025, themed “Programmes. Observed with social systems theory”, which has attracted a record number of submissions, signalling rising international interest in the topic. The issue also addresses mounting societal concerns about the opacity and pervasiveness of programme-driven decision-making in public administration, education, finance, and social media. By situating “programmes” at the intersection of digital technology and social theory, the issue speaks directly to current debates in socio-technical change.

Topics of Interest

• The role of programmes within, or at the interfaces of, different function systems.
• Theories as programmes and the digital transformability of analogue theories.
• Forms and functions of programmes before – digital – computation.
• Programmes from the periphery, that is, for example, from the global south or as expressed by sceptics of prevailing mainstream ideologies.
• Programmes as addresses and addressees in communication.
• Programmatic differences between an organised society and a society of organisations.
• Codes and meta-codes (such as inclusion versus exclusion),
• Interrelation among diverse programmes.
• Ideologisations of programmes – imposing hierarchy of relevance.
• Interventional programmes in, among others, politics, health, or education.

Submission Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/itp

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/itp (Menu: Author guidelines)

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Dates

Opening date for manuscript submissions: 22 August 2025

Closing date for manuscript submissions: 16 January 2026

Background literature

• Aal, E. B. (2025), ‘The end user takes the final decision’ AI and Decision–Communication in Organisations, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Vol. 42 No. 2, pp. 455-476.
• Baecker, D. (2025), Distinguishing next society, Current Sociology, Vol. 73 No. 4, pp. pp. 493–508.
• Fritzsche, A. (2025), Propositional logic, paradox, and Indian dialectics–towards a deeper ontological approach in paradox theory, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Vol. 42 No. 3, pp. 629-639.
• Guy, J. S. (2019), Digital technology, digital culture and the metric/nonmetric distinction. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 145, pp. 55-61.
• Neri, H., & Cordeiro, V. (2025), Reimagining Sociality in the Digital Age: Transcending the Interaction/Society Dichotomy, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Vol. 42 No. 2, pp. 488-502.
• Roth S. (2019), Digital transformation of social theory. A research update, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 146 No. September, pp. 88-93.
• Roth S. (2024), Truth tables, true distinctions. Paradoxes of the source code of science, Systemic Practice and Action Research, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 261-267.
• Roth S., Mansur J., Sales A., Zazar K., Dahms H., Arnold T., and Valentinov V. (in press), Big data insights into social macro trends: Expanding the horizon (1800-2018), Systems Research and Behavioral Sciences, DOI: 10.1002/sres.3175.
• Roth S., Watson S., Möller S., Clausen L., Zazar K., Dahms H., Sales A., and Lien V. (2025), Guiding distinctions of social theory: results from two online brainstormings and one quantitative analysis of the ISA Books of the XX Century corpus, Current Sociology, Vol. 73 No. 4, pp. 477 – 492.