Book Review: Marc Amstutz and Andreas Fischer-Lescano (eds), Kritische Systemtheorie: Zur Evolution einer normativen Theorie

The volume edited by Marc Amstutz and Andreas Fischer-Lescano presents studies that offer a critical perspective within Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory. For those not familiar with the contemporary debates on this subject, this may sound like a contradiction in terms. After all, Luhmann insisted on pointing out a clear cleavage between Frankfurt and Bielefeld (Luhmann, 1990, 1993). Nevertheless, we can track a series of efforts to deploy Luhmann critically, even if this endeavour contradicts his original perspective. These efforts date back to the mid-1990s and by no means comprise a unified project (Demirović, 2001; Jessop, 1992, 2008; Schimank, 2009; Stäheli, 2000; and, more recently, Möller, 2012; Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, 2010). Nonetheless, the task is not simple nor has it concluded. To the contrary, the debate is only beginning and therefore deserves closer attention. In this sense, this volume should be welcomed by those who see an unexplored potential in systems theory that could be engaged in a critical account of modern society, for it could eventually open a new line of research that could provide new energy to both systems theory and critical theory. This volume is the first to explicitly present a conciliation of traditionally antagonistic views as the core of a collective theoretical project. After a programmatic essay establishing the principles guiding a critical reading of systems theory (Fischer-Lescano, ‘Systemtheorie als kritische Gesellschaftstheorie’), the chapters in the first section discuss the main features and viability of this endeavour, aided by a discussion of critical works of varied provenance (e.g. Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Zygmunt Bauman and the earlier Frankfurt School). The second section offers innovative perspectives on the responsiveness of global social systems, and is largely focused