Call | Proposals for Special Issues of Kybernetes

Call for Special Issue Proposals The editorial team at Kybernetes invites proposals for special issues from scholars and practitioners interested in topics related to cybernetics, systems thinking, and management science. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: If you would like to propose a special issue, please contact Paul Kidd pkidd@emerald.com to request a proposal form. The […]

Talk | Can social theory run like code? @Wolfson College, University of Cambridge

I look forward to sharing my thoughts on how digitalisation reshapes social theory at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. Title: Digital Transformation of Social Theory Date: 25/11/2025 Venue: Gatsby Room (Chancellor’s Centre), Wolfson College, Barton Road, Cambridge, United Kingdom & Teams Overview: This talk outlines a programme to build a universal social theory machine: a […]

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

Special Issue of Information Technology & People (Emerald) 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, […]

CFP | JOCM | Reprogramming. Observed with social systems theory

Special Issue of the Journal of Organizational Change Management (Emerald) 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 Closing date for manuscripts submission: 20/01/2026 […]

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

Special Issue of Management Decision (Emerald) 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 is inspired by and linked to […]

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 […]

Inaugural Editorial | Cybernetics and systems Kybernetes theories for the 21st century. Introducing the new aims and scope of Kybernetes

For more than five decades, Kybernetes has provided a scholarly home for pioneering research incybernetics and systems thinking. As the newly appointed co-editors-in-chief, we are honouredto contribute to the legacy of this journal and guide it into a new phase of development. In thiseditorial, we present our renewed vision for Kybernetes, clarify its epistemic and […]

Release | Multifunctional organisation. A systems-theoretical concept and its practical implications

Abstract: Purpose: This Theory Transfer and Impact Article addresses a paradox in how organisations are observed and theorised: while governments are assumed to be political, schools educational, and firms economic, these same organisations often act across multiple functional domains—accumulating capital, performing research, or exercising power. The article proposes the concept of the multifunctional organisation to […]

Membership | Wolfson College, University of Cambridge

I am honoured to be joining Wolfson College, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, as a Visiting Fellow today! See you at Wolfson, for instance for our Niklas Luhmann Reading Group meeting in mid-April.

Prof Steffen Roth

System