Artikel

Sociologie zonder systeemtheorie: het geval Habermas

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Abstract

Sociology without systems-theory : the Habermas case - Jürgen Habermas’ theory of modern life consists of a conceptual distinction between systemic integrated interaction and communicative interaction; an analysis of communicative interaction; and a diagnosis of what went wrong during the process of modernisation with respect to the distinction between these two kinds of interaction. I argue that Habermas never gets round to an analysis of systemic interaction, and that because of this, his critical diagnosis of modern society remains formalistic and even void of meaning. It will be shown that Habermas cannot proceed to investigate the very issue he puts at the centre of critical sociology : the obtrusiveness of systemic integration ("the colonisation of the lifeworld"). This is because his theory produces confusion between spontaneous social selfregulation and non-communicative coordination of interaction. Habermas unwarrantedly takes for granted that all sociosystems presuppose the substitution of communicative action as a means of social coordination by non-communicative media ("Versachlichung") and, conversely, that all "Versachlichung" is functional to some kind of autoregulation on the level of social interaction. Moreover, because of his lack of systems-theory Habermas cannot say anything about the hidden advantages, if any, of certain socio-systems, and weigh them against the apparent disadvantages linked to the "Versachlichung" of social intercourse. Even with a clear concept of progress and efficiency in the broad sense, his theory could not make clear when the replacement of communicative action as a means of social co-ordination by non-communicative "media" is useful and when it is not.

How to Cite:

De Vlieghere, M., (1993) “Sociologie zonder systeemtheorie: het geval Habermas”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 38(3), 275–302. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95144