Sociocybernetics: An actor-oriented social systems approach

160 Pages·1978·22.37 MB·English

by  R. Felix Geyer

Sociocybernetics
Sociocybernetics
An actor-oriented social systems approach
Vol.1
Edited by
R. Felix Geyer, Johannesvan derZouwen
Netherlands Universities' Free University, Amsterdam
Jo int Social Research Centre, Amsterdam
Springer-Science+Business Media, B.V.
1978
ISBN 978-90-207-0854-7 ISBN 978-1-4613-4095-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4613-4095-9
Copyright ©1978 by R. F. Geyer and J. van der Zouwen.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by print, photoprint, microfilm or any
other means, without written permission from the editors.
Preface
The fifteen papers comprising this book were chosen out of the sixty-one
contributions to the Symposium and Section on Social Systems held in the
context of the Fourth International Congress of Cybernetics and Systems
(Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 21-25 August, 1978). These papers, as
sembled here on the basis of their topicality, depth and originality, cover a
wide range of problems, ranging from 'Societies and Turing machines' to
'Dialectics and catastrophe'. An interesting array of themes is considered
by authors from six countries. It is felt that these papers, some of them
thought-provoking and of great merit, will cast new light on social
problems. Though the contributions consider a wide variety of topics,
the underlying trend is apparent in many instances.
Of special value is the discussion of the relevance of cybernetics and
systems to a wide spectrum of social problems. I think the treatment and the
approach adopted by the contributors merit wide attention, since their
contributions constitute an appreciable advance in a fairly novel field.
1. ROSE
BLACKBURN (U.K.) May, 1978
Acknowledgements
First of all, we want to thank the authors for their contributions to these
volumes, often produced under severe time pressure.
We are particularly indebted to publisher Hans van der Sluijs and desk
editor Judy Marcure for their helpful cooperation in having both volumes
edited and published on schedule.
We also want to acknowledge the cooperation of the Netherlands Uni
versities' Joint Social Research Centre and the Free University, both in
Amsterdam, who granted us administrative assistance and the time to fulfil
our editorial duties.
Moreover, we have highly appreciated the feedback received from the
members of the Working Group on Social Systems of the Dutch Society for
General Systems Research.
Finally, we want to express our gratitude to Dr. J. Rose, the organizer of
the congress for which these contributions were written, for his stimulating
advice and his willingness to write the preface for this book.
The editors
Contents
Preface I V
Acknowledgements I VII
list of contributors I X
Introduction I 1
R. F. Geyer and J. van der Zouwen
A conversation theoretic approach to social systems I 15
G. Pask
Actors, games, and systems: the dialectics of social action and
system structuring I 27
T. Baumgartner, T. R. Burns and P. De Ville
An actor-oriented systems model for the analysis of industrial
democracy measures I 55
T. Baumgartner
A theory of social change I 79
M. Nowakowska
Are societies Turing machines? Some implications of the cyclical
majority problem, an NP complete problem, for cybernetic models
of social systems I 105
D. M. M. Booker
Dialectics and catastrophe I 129
M. Zwick
list of contributors
PROFESSOR THOMAS BAUMGARTNER,Economy and Society, Institute of Economic
Science, Catholic University of Louvain, Rue des Wallons 29, 1348 Louvain-la
Neuve, Belgium.
PROFESSOR JAMES R. BENIGER, Department of Sociology, 2-N-2 Green Hall,
Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. 08540, U.S.A.
DR. DoN M. M. BooKER, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Systems
Analysis, Miami University, 118 East Chestnut Street, Oxford, Ohio 45056, U.S.A.
PROFESSOR TOM R. BURNS, Scandinavian Institutes of Administrative Research,
Lund, Sweden, and Institute of Sociology, University of Oslo, Blindern, Box 1096,
Oslo 3, Norway.
PROFESSOR PHILIPPE DEVILLE, Institute of Economic and Social Research, Cath
olic University of Louvain, Rue des Wallons 29, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Bel
gium; Visiting Professor, Department of Economic Sciences, University of Mon
treal, Canada.
WIL DIJKSTRA, Psychologist, Department of Research Methods, Free University,
De Boelelaan 1115, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
PROFESSOR MYRNA L. ESTEP, College of Multidisciplinary Studies, Division of
Education, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78285, U.S.A.
PROFESSOR RICHARD L. HENSHEL, Department of Sociology, University of Wes
tern Ontario, London N6A 5C2, Ontario, Canada.
DR. BOBBIE J. JONES, Systems Science Center, University of Louisville, Louisville,
Kentucky40208, U.S.A.
PROFESSOR NIKLAS LUHMANN, Faku!Hit fi.ir Soziologie, Universitat Bielefeld, Uni
versitatsstrasse, 4800 Bielefeld 1, F.R.G.
PROFESSOR MARIAN MAZUR, Institute of Political Science, Polish Academy of
Sciences, Nowy Swiat 47a m.4, 00-042 Warszawa, Poland.
PROFESSOR JAMES G. MILLER, President and Director of Systems Science Center,
University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40208, U.S.A.
PROFESSOR MARIA NOWAKOWSKA, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish
Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland.
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
PROFESSOR GORDON PASK, Department of Cybernetics, Brunei University, and
Institute of Educational Technology, Open University; Director, System Research
Ltd., Woodville House, 37 Sheen Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 lAJ, England.
PROFESSOR ANATOL RAPOPORT, Department of Psychology, University of Toron
to, 11 Saint George Street, Toronto M5S lAl, Ontario, Canada.
PROFESSOR HERBERT A. SIMON, Department of Psychology and Computer
Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
15213, U.S.A.
PROFESSOR JOHANNES VAN DER ZOUWEN, Department of Research Methods,
Free University, De Boelelaan 1115, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
PROFESSOR MARTIN ZWICK, Systems Science Ph.D. Program, Portland State Uni
versity, P .0. Box 7 51, Portland, Oregon 97207, U.S.A.
Introduction
R. Felix Geyer and Johannes van der Zouwen
Common themes
The papers brought together in these volumes represent a selection
from the more than fifty contributions presented in the symposium and
the section on social systems of the Fourth International Congress of
Cybernetics and Systems (Amsterdam, August 1978). They cover a
wide variety of apparently unrelated topics, and seem to be bound
together mainly by their use of the common conceptual framework of
sociocybernetics, or social systems theory: indeed, they were all selected
for their quality and originality rather than for their mutual fit or for
their illustration or observance of a common theme.
Even for the editors themselves, it was therefore surprising and inter
esting that, on closer inspection, a number of mutually interlocking
common themes do emerge. These themes may be described as refuta
tions of the frequently voiced objections against the applications of
systems theory to the social sciences (e.g. implicit conservatism, tech
nocratic bias, and unwarranted reductionism). But they can also - and
more positively - be viewed as aspects of the emerging 'new cyberne
tics'. This 'new cybernetics' and its application to social systems can be
characterized by the following developments (see also Bdlten, 1978):
1. It stresses and gives an epistemological foundation for science as an
observer-dependent activity. The feedback and feedforward loops
characterizing the 'circular' form of systems thinking are not only
constructed between the objects observed but also between them and
the observer. The subjective character of knowledge is emphasized
by this approach: information is neither seen as inherently 'out there'
in the observer's environment, nor is it entirely viewed as a figment
of his own imagination or a resultant of his own inner cognitive pro
cesses. Information is constructed - and continually reconstructed -
by the individual in open interaction with his environment. The pa
pers by Pask and Estep illustrate this trend.