Event | When Programmes Disagree About Programmes: Code Poetry and the Problem of Programme–Programme Communication

What happens when programmes interpret programmes? As decision-making becomes increasingly mediated by computational procedures, interactions between programmes themselves come into view as a potential site of communication. This workshop explores the challenge of programme–programme communication through the case of code poetry—an artefact that simultaneously invites formal execution and semantic interpretation. Drawing on a moderated dialogue […]

Release | Ideological Repurposing of Institutions of Higher Management Education: Historical Lessons and Contemporary Imperatives

Abstract: This article examines the ideological repurposing of institutions of higher management education (IHMEs) from a systems-theoretical perspective. Drawing on Niklas Luhmann’s theory of social systems, we analyse both historical and contemporary cases to identify structural similarities in how institutions of higher education (IHEs) have been reoriented to serve external political imperatives. Through a functional […]

CFP | IT&P | Coding society. Programmatic encounters between information systems and social theory

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, […]

CFP | JOCM | Reprogramming. Observed with social systems theory

Special Issue of the Journal of Organizational Change Management (SSCI 2.7, Scopus Q2, CABS**, FNEGE**, VHB***) on Reprogramming. Observed with social systems theory Guest Editors: Steffen Roth, Excelia Business School, France; University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Vladislav Valentinov, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies, Halle, Germany; Next Society Institute, Kazimieras Simonavičius University, Lithuania […]

CFP | MD | Programmes in management and organisation. Observed with social systems theory

Special Issue of Management Decision (SSCI 5.1, Scopus Q1, CABS**, FNEGE**, VHB***) on Programmes in management and organisation. Observed with social systems theory Guest Editors: Steffen Roth, Excelia Business School, France; University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, roths@excelia-group.com Augusto Sales, Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Brazil; Yale University, United States of America, augusto.sales@fgv.br Closing date for manuscripts submission: 31/01/2026 The issue […]

Announcement | Luhmann Conference 2025 Book of Abstracts

The Book of Abstracts for the Luhmann Conference 2025 at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, is available for download here.

Announcement | Luhmann Conference Programme 2025

The preliminary version of the programme for the Luhmann Conference 2025 at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, is available for download here.

Release | What is in Organisation? Contents of a Self-Contained Container

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to resolve the apparent opposition between the container metaphor of organisation and the idea that organisations are constituted by communication. Drawing on works by Niklas Luhmann, George Spencer Brown, and Louis Kaufman, I develop a dynamic, communicative concept of containment, or “continence”. Using this concept, I demonstrate how […]

CFP | Luhmann Conference 2025 in Cambridge

Call for papers to the Luhmann Conference 2025 Topic: Programmes. Observed with social systems theory Venue: University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Submission deadline (abstracts): 15 May 2025Conference dates: 09-12 September 2025Pre-conference dinner: 08 September 2025 Supported by the Next Society Institute at Kazimieras Simonavicius University, European Sociological Association and the Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik. To download this Call for Papers, please click […]