Niklas Luhmann

This book offers an easily accessible introduction to the sociology of Niklas Luhmann. It presents the key concepts in Luhmann's systems theory, including social systems, autopoiesis, self-reference, and second-order observation. The book also introduces to his analysis of modern society as differentiated into a number of distinctive function systems. The book has a special focus on how Luhmann's work contributes to organization studies, sociology of law, economic sociology, and political sociology/political theory. Further, Luhmann's contributions to sociological debates on risk and inclusion and exclusion are examined. As a part of this, the book compares Luhmann's sociology to the work of other key thinkers in contemporary social theory (e.g. Ulrich Beck and Michel Foucault). The book also demonstrates how systems theory has developed after Luhmann's death in 1998 and focuses in this respect on the empirical analyses which have been conducted within the framework of Luhmann's system theory.