Luhmann -Why does society describe itself as postmodern

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Why Does Society Describe Itself as Postmodern?
Author(s): Niklas Luhmann
Source: Cultural Critique, No. 30, The Politics of Systems and Environments, Part I, (Spring,
1995), pp. 171-186
Published by: University of Minnesota Press
Stable URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/1354436
Accessed: 08/07/2008 18:50

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W h yD oes S o c ie tyD escrib e Itself as P ostm odern?

N ik la s L u h m a n n

I

T

h e discussion aboutm odern or postm oderns o c i e t y operates

o n th e s e m a n tic le v e l. Ini t , w e find m anyr e fe r e n c e s toi t s e l f ,

m any descriptionso fd e s c r ip tio n s , b u th a r d ly a n y attem ptto tak e

r e a litie sin to a c c o u n to n th eo p e r a t i o n a la n ds t r u c t u r a ll e v e lof so- c ia l c o m m u n ic a tio n s .W ere w e to care fo rr e a litie s ,w e w o u ld n o t s e eany sharpb reak b etw eena m odern andapostm oderns o c ie ty . Forc e n tu r ie s w e have had am onetaryeconom y,a n dw e s tillh a v e it.P e r h a p s there ares ig n sth a t in d ic a te an e wc e n tr a lity o f fin a n - c ia lm arkets,o fbanksand ofp o r tfo lios t r a t e g i e s , th a t m a r g in a liz e

m oney sp en tfor investm enta n d consum ption.W e c e r ta in ly can

o b s e r v ew o r ld w id e d is s o lu tio n o f th e fa m ilyeconom ieso f thep a s t ina g r ic u ltu r e a n d h a n d ic r a ftp r o d u c tio n .B u t it is a n d r e m a in s a n e c o n o m icsystem d iffe r e n tia te d bytr a n s a c tio n sth a t u se m oney.W e have alsoh a d , forc e n tu r ie snow , a state-orientedpoliticalsystem , a n dw e s till h a v ei t . W efa c e u n d e n ia b le d iffic u ltie si ne s ta b lis h in g a stateeveryw h ere asa localaddressfo r p o litic a lc o m m u n ic a tio n s , b u t th e r e isn o a lte r n a tiv ev is ib le . W e h a v e p o s itiv is ticle g a lsystem s,

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1 9 9 5b y C u ltu r a lC r i t i q u e .S p r i n g

1 9 9 5 .0 8 8 2 -4 3 7 1 /9 5 /$ 5 .0 0 .

1 7 1

1 7 2

N ik la s L u h m a n n

u n ifie db y c o n s titu tio n s . T h e r e a r ei n m any c o u n tr ie s m any d o u b ts

w hether

o r n o t th e la w

w illb ea p p lie d .

W e fin d

m any

c a s e si n

w h ic h

the distinction

b etw een

le g a lly

r ig h ta n d

le g a lly

w rong

i s

d is r e g a r d e d

a n dd o e s n o t m a tte ra t a ll. B u t th e r e is n o o th e rty p e

of lawi n view .W e do scientific research asb e f o r e ,a lth o u g h

n o w we are m orec o n s c i o u so f risks or other unpleasant consequences. A n d w esen d , w h e r e v e rp o ssib le, o u r c h ild r e n

t os c h o o l s , u sin g u p

the besty e a r s ofth e ir lives top r e p a r e

th em

fo r a n u n k n o w n

fu -

ture. O ur w hole lifedepends upont e c h n o l o g i e s , today m ore so than e v e r ,anda g a in , wes e e m ore problem s, but no clear break with the p a st,no transitionf r o m a m odernt o apostm odern

s o c ie ty .

H ence,

th ef i r s tq u e s t i o n

m ayb e: W hyd o

w ein d u lg e

i n

a

sem antic discussion that does not burden

itself w ith realities?

M yanswer toth isq u e s t i o n

(th e r e

m a yb eo t h e r s ) r e q u ir e s

som ek n o w le d g e

a b o u t c o m p le x

s e lf-r e fe r e n tia l system s. S u c hs y s -

te m s m a k e a n d c o n tin u e

to m ake a difference betw een

th es y s t e m

a n d its e n v ir o n m e n t.E v e r y s in g leo p e r a tio n th a t c o n tr ib u te s to th e

s e lf-r e p r o d u c tio n

o f th esystem -th at

is ,in the case o fs o c i e t y , e v -

e r y

s in g le

com m unication-reproduces

th is

d iffe r e n c e .

I n

th is

s e n s e , societies areo p e r a tio n a lly

c lo s e d

system s. They

c a n n o to p -

erate outside their ow nb o u n d a r i e s .

N everth eless,th es y s t e m

can use its ow no p e r a tio n sto d istin -

g u is h itself from

i t s environm ent.

I t can com m unicate

a b o u t its e lf

(a b o u t c o m m u n ic a tio n )

a n d /o ra b o u t its e n v ir o n m e n t.

It can dis-

tin g u is hb etw een

s e lf-r e fe r e n c e

a n dh e t e r o - r e f e r e n c e ,

b u t th is h a s

tob e d o n eb y a nin te r n a lo p e r a tio n .

O p e r a tio n a lc lo s u r e is an e c e s s a r yc o n d itio n

fo ro b s e r v a t i o n s ,

d e s c r ip tio n s ,a n d c o g n itio n s ,b e c a u s eo b s e r v in g r e q u ir e s m a k in ga

d is tin c tio n

a n din d ic a tin g

o n esid e o f th e d is tin c tio n

a n d n o t th e

o th e r .T he o th e rs i d e , th e unm arked

s id e ,c a nb ea n y th in g t h a t is ,

for the

tim eb e in g ,

o fn o

c o n c e r n .

S u c h

d is tin c tio n s

h a v e

to be

m a d eb y th es y s t e m

w ith inth esystem . F o r w ec a n n o tsu p p o se

a n

e n v ir o n m e n t

(o ra w o r ld )w h eree v e r y t h i n g

i s m u ltip lied

by any-

th in g ,a w o r ld w heree v e r y observable item

in c lu d e sth e e x c lu s io n

o fe v e r y th in g

e ls e ,o r a w o r ldi n w h ic he v e r y t h i n g

h a s th ep r o p e r -

t ie so f t h ea b so lu tes p ir it inH e g e l'ss e n s e .

P a y in ga tte n tio n to th is c o n d itio n

o f th ec a p a c ity o fo b s e r v i n g ,

w e can see that thes y s t e m m akesthed i f f e r e n c ebetween

s y s t e m

a n d

e n v ir o n m e n t

a n dc o p ie sth a t d iffe r e n c ei nth es y s t e m

to bea b le to

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