An Autopoieticist Vision of Society : Luhmann's Social System Theory and the Understanding of Medieval Transformation
Abstract
The Middle Ages is perceived as a turning point in history, during which the earlier, still archaic world closed and a new continuity opened, of which we are still a part. There are various answers to the question of how this change took place in Central Europe and what its causal connections were.
Czech historiography emphasises the long-term and internal transformation of all spheres of medieval society, doubts the existence of exogenous factors in the form of migration, capital transfer and innovation, changes in natural conditions or demographic growth. Instead, it prefers a multicausal interpretation and draws attention to the variability of historical development and the different fulfilment of the general tendencies.
The main goal of the paper is to connect this historical narrative with the exciting world of social theories. We show that there are many links between the concept of medieval transformation and the theory of autopoietic systems formulated by Niklas Luhmann.
The perception of social evolution, differentiation, indeterminism and causalities is more or less identical in both. We also draw attention to the perspective of further research offered by the integration of space and materiality into Luhmann's theory, using the example of agriculture and the peasantry.