Release | JBE | Multifunctional Tetralemma. Framework for the Strategic Management of Moral Trade-offs

Abstract: The issue of moral trade-offs is widely discussed in the literatures on sustainable development and stakeholder theory. Sustainability efforts often require corporate managers to balance economic, social, and environmental concerns, which frequently translate into trade-offs between legitimate stakeholder interests. We investigate how the nature of these trade-offs is illuminated by Luhmannian systems theory, particularly […]

Release | Big data insights into social macro trends: Expanding the horizon (1800-2018)

Abstract: This article examines how big data can inform and challenge established theories and future visions of society. Utilising the most recent version of the arguably largest free online corpus, the Google Books corpus (version 20200217), we replicate and enhance Roth et al.’s (2019a) systems-theoretical methodology for analysing macro social trends. Thus extending the sample […]

Release | Special issue of Current Sociology on “Guiding distinctions of social theory. Analogue guidelines or digital transformers?”

Special Luhmann Conference 2024 issue of Current Sociology on the theme of “Guiding distinctions of social theory. Analogue guidelines or digital transformers?” Click here for the issue as published on the Current Sociology website. Contributions: Editorial: Steffen Roth, Steve Watson, Harry Dahms, and Arthur Atanesyan: Guiding distinctions of social theory. Analogue guidelines or digital transformers? […]

Release | Virtual special Issue on “Guiding Distinctions of Management and Organisation Research”

Virtual special Luhmann Conference 2024 issue of Management Revue on the theme of “The Guiding Distinctions of Management and Organisation Research” Introduction Steffen Roth, Lars Clausen, Margit Neisig, and Augusto Sales: Guiding Distinctions of Management and Organisation Research. An Introduction, Management Revue, Vol. 36 No. 1, 39357. Contributions This virtual special issue of Management Revue […]

Release | Guiding distinctions of social theory: results from two online brainstormings and one quantitative analysis of the ISA Books of the XX Century corpus

Abstract: In this paper, we report on the results of two online brainstormings that have collected over 480 and over 219 guiding distinctions of social theory, respectively. We draw on the results of these brainstormings as well as on a quantitative analysis of the Top 100 sociological groundworks as listed in the ISA Books of the XX […]

Release | The matrix reloaded. A revised framework for the inference of the four basic forms of social differentiation

Abstract: This paper revisits and refines Niklas Luhmann’s framework for understanding social differentiation, addressing unresolved ambiguities in his original theory. Luhmann’s approach, which initially identified three core forms of social differentiation—segmentation, stratification, and functional differentiation—expanded to include a fourth form, centralization. By critically examining the theoretical underpinnings and limitations of Luhmann’s distinctions, this study shows […]

Release | Family businesses and business families in cultural context: interdisciplinary updates for family business research

Abstract: This article shows that business family and family business research is dominated by reductionist and biased concepts of culture that are in sharp contrast with recent advances in anthropology and the broader social sciences that would allow for more fine-grained analyses. Through an inbound theorizing approach, state-of-the-art anthropological and sociological concepts of culture are […]

New Mailing List for Systems Theories – Join Us!

I am pleased to inform you that JiscMail has approved our application for a mailing list dedicated to systems theories of all forms, including, but not limited to, open, closed, general, and autopoietic systems theories. We warmly invite you to subscribe at: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/systems We look forward to your engagement and valuable contributions!

Announcement | Luhmann Conference Programme 2024

The final version of the programme of the Luhmann Conference 2024 is available for download here.