Differentiation is a term in system theory From the viewpoint of this theory, the principal feature of modern society is the increased process of system differentiation as a way of dealing with the complexity of its environment. This is accomplished through the creation of subsystems in an effort to copy within a system the difference between it and the environment.

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  • Differentiation is a term in system theory From the viewpoint of this theory, the principal feature of modern society is the increased process of system differentiation as a way of dealing with the complexity of its environment. This is accomplished through the creation of subsystems in an effort to copy within a system the difference between it and the environment. The differentiation process is a means of increasing the complexity of a system, since each subsystem can make different connections with other subsystems. It allows for more variation within the system in order to respond to variation in the environment. Increased variation facilitated by differentiation not only allows for better responses to the environment, but also allows for faster evolution, which is defined sociologically as a process of selection from variation; the more differentiation (and thus variation) that is available, the better the selection . Society, Luhmann argues, has to be conceived as a system made up of discrete subsystems. Any of these subsystems could be given “functional primacy” over the rest but no subsystem can be taken as the privileged point of departure for sociological analysis. Instead of reducing society as a whole to one of its subsystems, i.e. ; Karl Marx and Economics, or Hans Kelsen and Law, Luhmann bases his analysis on the idea that society is a self differentiating system that will, in order to attain mastery over an environment that is always more complex than it, increase its own complexity through a proliferating of subsystems. And, just as society for Luhmann cannot be reduced to any one of its subsystems, so too its subsystems cannot be reduced to specific institutions. “Religion” is more extensive than the church, “politics” transcends the governmental apparatus, and “economics” encompasses more than the sum total of organizations of production. (Holmes et al. 1983). There are four types of differentiation: segmentation, stratification, center-periphery, and functional.
  • Der Begriff Differenzierung (auch Soziale Differenzierung oder Gesellschaftliche Differenzierung) bezeichnet langfristige Veränderungen einer Gesellschaft, die mit der Neuentstehung oder Aufgliederung von Sozialen Positionen, Lebenslagen und/oder Lebensstilen verbunden sind, sowie das Ergebnis solcher Prozesse, nämlich Soziale Differenziertheit. Er wurde 1890 von Georg Simmel in die Soziologie eingeführt (Über sociale Differenzierung).
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  • Differentiation is a term in system theory From the viewpoint of this theory, the principal feature of modern society is the increased process of system differentiation as a way of dealing with the complexity of its environment. This is accomplished through the creation of subsystems in an effort to copy within a system the difference between it and the environment.
  • Der Begriff Differenzierung (auch Soziale Differenzierung oder Gesellschaftliche Differenzierung) bezeichnet langfristige Veränderungen einer Gesellschaft, die mit der Neuentstehung oder Aufgliederung von Sozialen Positionen, Lebenslagen und/oder Lebensstilen verbunden sind, sowie das Ergebnis solcher Prozesse, nämlich Soziale Differenziertheit. Er wurde 1890 von Georg Simmel in die Soziologie eingeführt (Über sociale Differenzierung).
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  • Differentiation (sociology)
  • Differenzierung (Soziologie)
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