Books by Jörg Räwel
Papers by Jörg Räwel
Back to the future with Donald Trump
Kybernetes, 2025
Purpose
The aim of the article is to use the social rather than individual phenomenon of “Donald ... more Purpose
The aim of the article is to use the social rather than individual phenomenon of “Donald Trump” to explain the radical changes in the form of society that have already taken place.
Design/methodology/approach
In methodological terms, the article explains the consequences of different socially dominant forms of communication. In this way, it demonstrates that communication via social media changes the structure of society to the extent that it privileges personality-oriented, morality-prone observations over fact-based observations or assessments, and thus restores pre-modern conditions, at least in this respect.
Findings
The article attempts to show that the functional differentiation of modern society – which separated spheres such as politics, science and economics – is being corrupted by the increasing dominance of communication through social media that emphasizes morality and personality over factual competence.
Originality/value
The system-theoretical connection between different historical forms of communication and social structures observed here is not original. What is original, however, is the identification of social media as an increasingly dominant form of communication that has the potentially corrupting power to transform modern society.
Constructivist Foundations, 2022
Open peer commentary on the article “Natural Drift: A Minimal Theory with Maximal Consequences” b... more Open peer commentary on the article “Natural Drift: A Minimal Theory with Maximal Consequences” by Jorge Mpodozis. Abstract: I appreciate the consistency in Mpodozis’s theoretical approach. However, by assuming that autopoiesis can only be applied to the molecular mode of operation of organisms, he fails to exploit the potential of autopoiesis for elucidating evolutionary theory.
Kybernetes, 2021
Purpose: Given the form of functional differentiation of modern society, a far-reaching coordinat... more Purpose: Given the form of functional differentiation of modern society, a far-reaching coordination of functional systems as a dissolution of their heterarchical relationship to each other, as was apparently possible in the social “lockdown” during the corona pandemic, should have been extremely unlikely. The purpose of this study is to explain how this was nevertheless achieved.
Design/methodology/approach: From the perspective of systems theory, social action in principle does not present itself as a problem but as a solution to (latent) social problems. In the sociological analysis presented here, it is therefore precisely a matter of uncovering or pointing out those (changed) social structures in which a social “lockdown” appears as a solution.
Findings: The paper explains that with the emergence of social media through applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, a new force is establishing itself at the level of society as a system. It is one that is characterized by being highly vulnerable to moral communication. A susceptibility to morality manifests, on the one hand, through an individual differentiation of society made possible by social media – for example, in the emerging Chinese social credit system – and, on the other hand, through the specific communicative structures of the social media themselves. It is argued that social media, in the form of a moral authority with a lasting effect on society as a whole, make a significant contribution to realizing the social “lockdown.”
Originality/value: The originality of the paper results from the fact that the emergence of a new social phenomenon (“lockdown”) is explained.
Telepolis (Mass Media), 2020
Was das Phänomen Trump und die Corona Krise gemeinsam haben.
Telepolis (Mass Media), 2020
About the dangers of monocultures. The lack of social resilience in the Corona crisis (German)
Swiss Journal of Sociology, 2020
The transformation towards a functional differentiation of society and the current emergence of s... more The transformation towards a functional differentiation of society and the current emergence of social media have increased the importance of reputation, because persons have become comparable and contingently addressable throughout society. We examine both social media and China’s emerging “social credit system” to determine whether and to what extent these developments point to the development of a symbolically generalized communication medium of reputation, respectively, to a social change from functional to individual differentiation.
Keywords: reputation, social media, social credit system, tinder, metoo debate, unconditional basic income
Kybernetes, 2019
Purpose – Maturana and Mpodozis (2000) developed a theory of evolution that is based on the conce... more Purpose – Maturana and Mpodozis (2000) developed a theory of evolution that is based on the concept of autopoiesis and differs paradigmatically from the conventional theory derived from Darwin (1859). The present study aims to show that the authors have not exhausted the explanatory potential that the concept of autopoiesis can offer for the theory of evolution. Based on the critique of Maturana and Mpodozis, a system theoretic-oriented concept for the origin of species will be developed.
Design/methodology/approach – To render the explanatory potential of the concept of autopoiesis more fruitful for the theory of evolution, the proposition is made that the application of this concept is not limited to the molecular, or organismal level, as propounded by Maturana and Mpodozis, but should be also related to populations and species. By exempting the design of Maturana and Mpodozis from the rudiments of methodological individualism, a new field of application for the concept of autopoiesis is explored.
Findings – The proposed system theoretic concept of evolution theory makes it possible to shed new, constructive light on fundamental problems in the conventional biology of evolution. For example, with regard to the significance of the emergence of sexuality, or how phases of accelerated change in the course of evolution (e.g. the Cambrian explosion) are possible, or regarding the problem of the units of selection.
Originality/value – Although there have been attempts in the social sciences to interpret populations as autopoietic systems (for example by Niklas Luhmann), the proposed approach to evolutionary biology is new. Also original is a system theoretic conception of the evolutionary theory, in a strict renunciation of methodological individualism. This renunciation permits systems theories of evolution in social science and biology to be compared across disciplines.
Keywords - Adaptation, Ecology, Systems theory, Evolution, Autopoiesis, Self-referential systems
Paper type - Conceptual paper
Studies in Communication Sciences, 2018
From a system-theory perspective, the form of address list based communication, as made possible ... more From a system-theory perspective, the form of address list based communication, as made possible by the Internet – often categorized under " social media " or " social networks " – is analyzed. Examples of address-list based communication are online dating services, online social networking sites such as Face-book, networking sites for the business community, travel networking sites, etc. The paper theorizes how address-lists as media represent a technologically supported possibility to cope with the problem of double contingency in terms of initiative and stabilization of interaction systems. The paper addresses, as a case example, the advantages (hopefulness) and the disadvantages (disappointments) of address-list based communication in the initiation of love or romantic relationships. Thus, it shows that the problem of initiative can be overcome, but address list communication creates problems for the continuity or stability of interaction systems within love as a symbolically generalized medium of communication. Last, but not least, it shows that address lists increase the importance of reputation-oriented communication (in German).
Telepolis (Mass Media), 2018
Are machines able to think? The Turing Test from a systems theory perspective.
The theory of autopoiesis claims that adaptation should be understood as a precondition, and not ... more The theory of autopoiesis claims that adaptation should be understood as a precondition, and not as a constraint, guiding the evolution of social and living systems. This premise is at first sight incompatible with the perspective of the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution. In the case of speciation (phylogenesis) the varying adaptation to the environment is here, in fact, understood as a determinant factor arranging how organisms are selected. Nevertheless, the present study tests out a perspective on evolutionary biology, which is compatible with the implications of the theory of autopoiesis and can demonstrate a productive explanatory potential for evolutionary biology. In this way, it is possible to demonstrate an approach to solving the problems being intensively discussed in (neo-Darwinian) evolutionary biology. Namely, the problems of the units to be selected in evolution, or of rendering the meaning and function of the evolutionary development of sexuality comprehensible, or of relativizing the problem of altruism in evolution. Also, explanations for the so-called Cambrian Explosion and the fundamental difference between the evolution of prokaryotic and eukaryotic forms of life can be derived. And finally, the perspective so so developed permits us to determine the relation of biotic and social evolution in a differentiated manner.
Presentation at the third European Advanced School in the Philosophy of the Life Sciences (EASPLS... more Presentation at the third European Advanced School in the Philosophy of the Life Sciences (EASPLS 2014, September 1-5, 2014) at the Konrad Lorenz Institute in Klosterneuburg near Vienna, Austria, on the topic: “Ontological Issues in the Life Sciences.”
Swiss Journal of Sociology, 2007
This article reconstructs the methodology of theoretical and empirical research on the basis of t... more This article reconstructs the methodology of theoretical and empirical research on the basis of the system-theoretical concept of communication. This reconstruction by means of the communication theory helps to better understand the (entangled) relationship between the research methods and to connect them to the recent findings in sociological research. Furthermore functional analysis makes it possible to find a common ground between Luhmann's communication theory, based on the paradigm of operational constructivism, and the established insights in the field of the philosophy of science and epistemology, especially regarding the philosophy of language. It shows that the results of the research in epistemology (as of Quine, Gödel, Bohr, Feyerabend, Kuhn, Heisenberg) not only correspond to the theoretical concept of communication as defined in the system theory but also relate to them in a coherent way.
Drafts by Jörg Räwel
The paper observes from a systems theory viewpoint the emergence / establishment of chatbots, a p... more The paper observes from a systems theory viewpoint the emergence / establishment of chatbots, a phenomenon that is being perceived as controversial in society. First, the paper briefly discusses how large language models (LLM) function technically. In the main, the article is concerned with reconstructing LLM as an application case of the systems-theoretic theory of communication. Furthermore, the opportunities and risks associated with the establishment of chatbots are assessed from a systems-theoretical point of view.
A system-theoretical analysis of current social events in the course of the Corona pandemic. Meth... more A system-theoretical analysis of current social events in the course of the Corona pandemic. Methodologically, the paper is based on the functional analysis, the comparison of functions. The abstract aspect, which enables the comparison of functions, is a specific (i.e. generalized) concept of technology: namely, that of a medium that allows to dispose between self-referential and other-referential aspects in social systems. It is explained that technology can generally be associated with self-damaging (allergic) societal consequences. In the case of the Corona Pandemic it will be shown that it is social media ("technically generalized communication media") that make it possible that social (self-)perception has changed radically in recent decades. This has led not least to the fact that the fight against the current pandemic is handled quite differently from pandemics of a similar kind a few decades earlier.
Es handelt sich um eine systemtheoretische Analyse der aktuellen Geschehnisse im Zuge der Corona ... more Es handelt sich um eine systemtheoretische Analyse der aktuellen Geschehnisse im Zuge der Corona Pandemie. Methodisch orientiere ich mich an der funktionale Analyse, bzw. einem funktionalen Vergleich. Abstraktion ermöglichender Vergleichsgesichtspunkt ist ein spezifisches (nämlich generalisiertes) Konzept von Technik: als das eines Mediums, das ermöglicht, zwischen selbst- und fremdreferentiellen Bezügen in sozialen Systemen zu disponieren.
Conference Presentations by Jörg Räwel
Luhmann Conference 2021, Dubrovnik: Risks and Pathologies. Observed with Social Systems Theory, 2021
The purpose of this paper is to examine the risks and pathologies of technology. To this end, a g... more The purpose of this paper is to examine the risks and pathologies of technology. To this end, a general systems-theoretical concept of technology is first presented. Namely, Technology as a medium for controlling the boundary between dangerous other-referential elements, and useful self-referential resources, worthy of protection. This concept is first explained by means of divination techniques, inquisition techniques and the general technical exploitation of resources, before it is applied in detail to current (digital-technical) social coping with the Corona Crisis.
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Books by Jörg Räwel
Papers by Jörg Räwel
The aim of the article is to use the social rather than individual phenomenon of “Donald Trump” to explain the radical changes in the form of society that have already taken place.
Design/methodology/approach
In methodological terms, the article explains the consequences of different socially dominant forms of communication. In this way, it demonstrates that communication via social media changes the structure of society to the extent that it privileges personality-oriented, morality-prone observations over fact-based observations or assessments, and thus restores pre-modern conditions, at least in this respect.
Findings
The article attempts to show that the functional differentiation of modern society – which separated spheres such as politics, science and economics – is being corrupted by the increasing dominance of communication through social media that emphasizes morality and personality over factual competence.
Originality/value
The system-theoretical connection between different historical forms of communication and social structures observed here is not original. What is original, however, is the identification of social media as an increasingly dominant form of communication that has the potentially corrupting power to transform modern society.
Design/methodology/approach: From the perspective of systems theory, social action in principle does not present itself as a problem but as a solution to (latent) social problems. In the sociological analysis presented here, it is therefore precisely a matter of uncovering or pointing out those (changed) social structures in which a social “lockdown” appears as a solution.
Findings: The paper explains that with the emergence of social media through applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, a new force is establishing itself at the level of society as a system. It is one that is characterized by being highly vulnerable to moral communication. A susceptibility to morality manifests, on the one hand, through an individual differentiation of society made possible by social media – for example, in the emerging Chinese social credit system – and, on the other hand, through the specific communicative structures of the social media themselves. It is argued that social media, in the form of a moral authority with a lasting effect on society as a whole, make a significant contribution to realizing the social “lockdown.”
Originality/value: The originality of the paper results from the fact that the emergence of a new social phenomenon (“lockdown”) is explained.
Keywords: reputation, social media, social credit system, tinder, metoo debate, unconditional basic income
Design/methodology/approach – To render the explanatory potential of the concept of autopoiesis more fruitful for the theory of evolution, the proposition is made that the application of this concept is not limited to the molecular, or organismal level, as propounded by Maturana and Mpodozis, but should be also related to populations and species. By exempting the design of Maturana and Mpodozis from the rudiments of methodological individualism, a new field of application for the concept of autopoiesis is explored.
Findings – The proposed system theoretic concept of evolution theory makes it possible to shed new, constructive light on fundamental problems in the conventional biology of evolution. For example, with regard to the significance of the emergence of sexuality, or how phases of accelerated change in the course of evolution (e.g. the Cambrian explosion) are possible, or regarding the problem of the units of selection.
Originality/value – Although there have been attempts in the social sciences to interpret populations as autopoietic systems (for example by Niklas Luhmann), the proposed approach to evolutionary biology is new. Also original is a system theoretic conception of the evolutionary theory, in a strict renunciation of methodological individualism. This renunciation permits systems theories of evolution in social science and biology to be compared across disciplines.
Keywords - Adaptation, Ecology, Systems theory, Evolution, Autopoiesis, Self-referential systems
Paper type - Conceptual paper
Drafts by Jörg Räwel
Conference Presentations by Jörg Räwel