The Autopoietic Character of Society

Abstract

Following the articulation of the concept of autopoiesis in the biological realm by Maturana and Varela, this chapter introduces the basic principles and questions that led to the development of social autopoiesis. In exploring the developments around the autopoietic character of society, this chapter focuses on the core ideas behind Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory as an abstraction and expansion of the biologically-inspired autopoiesis. The central ideas around Luhmann’s decision to operationalise the system/environment distinction as a society/human distinction are discussed while the principles of the different function subsystems of society are outlined. A sample of applications that apply Luhmann’s ideas are provided and one of these cases is expanded.