Les Deux Angleterres et le Continent: Anglophone Sociology as the Guardian of Old European Semantics

Journal of Sociocybernetics Vol. 9 No. 1-2, pp. 19-34 (May 15, 2013)

19 Pages Posted: 17 May 2013 Last revised: 13 Jul 2023

See all articles by Steffen Roth

Steffen Roth

Excelia Business School; Kazimieras Simonavičius University

Date Written: May 15, 2013

Abstract

Despite its influence in Central European sociology, N. Luhmann’s Social Systems theory remains a marginal branch of international sociology. In this paper, the theory questions the reasons for its own marginality in general and for its marginality in the Anglophone centers of sociology in particular, with the latter still being a surprise against the background of the theory’s cybernetic roots in the US. The theory arrives at the conclusion that, while Europe, or ‘the continent’, is still perceived as old compared with the Anglophone new world(s), it still is Anglophone sociology that preserves ‘Old European’ semantics. Sociology in continental ‘Old Europe’, however, seems to have a chance of slowly being acquainted with a new, post-enlightenment mindset focused on semantics and communication rather than on humans and action.

Keywords: Social Systems Theory, Sociology, Niklas Luhmann, Cybernetics, Post-Enlightenment, Old Europe, New World

JEL Classification: Z00

Suggested Citation

Roth, Steffen, Les Deux Angleterres et le Continent: Anglophone Sociology as the Guardian of Old European Semantics (May 15, 2013). Journal of Sociocybernetics Vol. 9 No. 1-2, pp. 19-34 (May 15, 2013), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2265350

Steffen Roth (Contact Author)

Excelia Business School ( email )

102 rue de Coureilles
Les Minimes
La Rochelle, 17024
France

Kazimieras Simonavičius University ( email )

Dariaus ir Girėno g. 21
Vilnius, 02189
Lithuania

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