Release | Organisation and Function: Reclaiming the Third Mandate in the Age of Grand Challenges

Abstract: Calls for organizations to address grand societal challenges increasingly emphasise performance-oriented adaptation and organisational repurposing through new initiatives, metrics, and governance mechanisms. Yet this focus often neglects the more fundamental macro-structural role organisations play in society. Drawing on Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory, this paper reclaims the long-neglected “third mandate” of organization theory by […]

Release | Rainmaking: Observed with social systems theory

Abstract: This article examines contemporary efforts to control climate change through the lens of social systems theory, particularly by drawing comparisons to rain dances and shamanic rituals. It argues that modern climate control strategies bear functional similarities to archaic rituals aimed at influencing weather patterns, despite the absence of direct causality. Using Niklas Luhmann’s concepts […]

Release | Special Issue | Scientific communication. Observed with social systems theory

Special Luhmann Conference 2022 Issue of Systemic Practice and Action Research (Vol. 37 No. 3) on Scientific communication. Observed with social systems theory Edited by Steffen Roth, Kresimir Zazar, Lars Clausen, and Tilia Stingl de Vasconcelos Guedes Introduction Steffen Roth, Kresimir Zazar, Tilia Stingl de Vasconcelos Guedes, and Lars Clausen: Scientific communication observed with social […]