The problem of double contingency in the sociological theories of Talcott Parsons and Niklas Luhmann
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/ris.81.3.22.0840Keywords:
Social order, Action, Communication, Expectations, Social system theoryAbstract
Considering the tradition of sociological thought, Luhmann highlights the way Parsons identifies the problem of order as the constituent topic of the discipline. He also foregrounds his means to connect it with double contingency, an essential contribution that allows treating normality as improbable. Nevertheless, that is as far as his recognition goes, because delimiting the fundaments with which Parsons explains social order represents a central principle of Luhmann’s theoretical project. Focusing on the arguments regarding this demarcation, the present article systematizes Luhmann’s critiques towards the parsonian approach of double contingency, adding a set of interpretations over other authors who contribute in that analytic direction. Subsequently, it discuss this critiques’ validity through Parsons’s perspective, with the aim to subscribe to the social system theory, clarifying the conceptual links between two of its main referents.
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