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This article explains the intellectual context of Niklas Luhmann's sociological theory. Although Luhmann's theory is well known for its highly abstract features, this does not mean that the theory results from his references to the latest general systems theory, which has been the primary focus of previous literature. That said, no social theory is produced in a vacuum. Even if a theorist attempts to construct a general sociological theory to explain every social phenomenon, that theory is necessarily influenced by the theorist's prejudices. Therefore, social theory must be contextualized both to estimate its biases and to limit its scope. This study shows that Luhmann's systems theory is constructed through a struggle with the issues of his day. First, it notes that the question of how to conceptualize modern civil society was widely shared by German intellectuals from the late 1950s to the 1970s and that the question created a certain discourse field. Second, Luhmann's theoretical conception is contextualized in that field of discourse, and the central role of both the concept of functional differentiation and the concern with border maintenance in his theory‐building is explained in comparison with the work of contemporary intellectuals. To deepen our analysis, this article reconstructs Schmitt's interpretation and criticism of civil liberalism and describes Luhmann's struggle with it. Finally, by analyzing the Gesellschaftswissenschaften of Robert von Mohl, one of the founders of civil liberalism, this article argues that Luhmann's sociology can be characterized as an attempt to rehabilitate civil liberalism.

Soziologische Theoriebildung besteht nicht nur in Begriffsbildung und der Aufstellung substanzieller Thesen, sondern auch in formalen Operationen, einer 'Theorie-Praxis' der Problematisierung und Problemlösung, welche jenseits des Gehalts einer Theorie Vorbild für weitere Theoriebildung sein kann. Solche Operationen werden am Beispiel des Werkes von Niklas Luhmann untersucht. Es finden sich typische Wege des Umgangs mit Unterscheidungen und Bezeichnungen, Brückenbildungen zur Alltagssprache, zur sonstigen soziologischen Terminologie und zur Empirie, eine Abstraktion in Richtung Informationsverarbeitung und Problemkonstruktionen, die durch einen besonderen Logizismus und die Herstellung von Kontingenz geprägt sind. Die Luhmannsche Analyse von 'Semantik' kann dann als evolutionär-logizistische Hermeneutik verstanden werden. Abschließend wird untersucht, wie in der Systemtheorie vorgegangen wird, um diese von anderen Theorien zu unterscheiden und ihre Alleinstellung plausibel zu machen.

"Sollten unvorhergesehene gesellschaftliche Umbrüche in der Profession Schuldgefühle hervorrufen, wie es der Zusammenbruch der ehemals sowjetischen Staaten getan hat? Sofern derartige Ereignisse im Widerspruch zu theoretisch untermauerten Erwartungen stehen, stellen sie eine Chance zum Lernen dar. Die Wende in der DDR scheint ein solcher Fall allerdings nicht gewesen zu sein. Die alsbald nach der 'Wende' ins Kraut schießenden Versuche rückblickender Erklärung haben den Eindruck entstehen lassen, daß für den Überraschungseffekt nicht grundsätzliche theoretische Schwierigkeiten verantwortlich waren, sondern eine aus Desinteresse geborene Ignoranz. Mit einem solchen Bekenntnis verbaut man sich jedoch den Weg zu der wichtigen Frage, wieweit gesellschaftliche Umbrüche denn tatsächlich theoriefähige Phänomene sind. Gesellschaftliche Umbrüche sind tiefgreifende und zugleich sprunghafte Veränderungen auf der Makroebene - Ereignisse, die sich durch eine Vielzahl theoretisch relevanter Merkmale auszeichnen, aber zugleich nur in beschränkter Fallzahl vorkommen. Schon von daher sind sie, wie alle seltenen und komplexen Makrophänomene, kein geeigneter Gegenstand für die Suche nach verallgemeinerbaren Variablenzusammenhängen, der auch in der Soziologie weithin akzeptierten Normvorstellung theoretischen Bemühens. Gesellschaftliche Umbrüche sind hochgradig kontingente, meist unterdeterminierte Ereignisse, die aus der Intersektion von Strukturwirkungen, strategischem Handeln und kollektivem Verhalten erwachsen. Sie haben deshalb häufig den Charakter eines Cournot-Effekts (Boudon), was auch ihre Nichtvorhersehbarkeit begründet. Möglich bleibt jedoch die Identifikation einzelner an dem Ereignis beteiligter Mechanismen, wobei die nichtlineare Dynamik gerade bei Umbruchphänomenen eine hervorragende Rolle spielt." (Autorenreferat)

Jews have played a decisive role in the history of sociological theory. Paradoxically, Israeli sociologists – who came from similar Jewish social backgrounds, and shared the same intellectual traditions – have not left a mark on general sociological discourse. This study sets out to solve this paradox and explain why Israeli sociologists have had a negligible impact on the development of general sociological theories. Israeli sociologists have proved to play no significant role in the development of general sociological theory because they exhibited a specific mode of thought: (a) their theoretical questions were contextual; (b) their cognitive interest was to solve practical problems; (c) their theoretical perspective reflected national priorities; and (d) they exhibited a fragmented mode of thought.The article argues that the extreme local position of Israeli sociologists in the collective Zionist project propelled them to adopt the aforementioned intellectual features and therefore marginalized their contribution to general sociological theory.

Comparisons are central to sociology and prominent among them are comparisons between the way two variables are related in different contexts (e.g. the present compared to the past, blacks compared to whites, industrial societies compared to agrarian ones). It is crucial, therefore, that analytic techniques used to test for such differences accurately reflect the true situation. A variety of statistical approaches have been used, most notably, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with dummy variables and interaction terms. Recently, however, Goodman's log-linear procedure has been advocated as a `better' way of dealing with certain types of comparisons and particular models have been widely used. However, there is some question as to their applicability in answering theoretical questions typically posed in comparative sociological research. In this paper, we address this issue. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we set up a typical but hypothetical set of data that would be appropriate for testing comparative theories of socioeconomic achievement or intergenerational mobility. This allows us to examine the ramifications of choosing particular analytic techniques on the conclusions drawn about theoretical propositions. Following conventions established in the literature, we apply two analytic techniques to the same set of data under a variety of conditions. Specifically, we compare the use of widely applied OLS regression and log-linear models where we set (1) the slope differences and (2) the mean differences in the variables between the contexts to vary. The simulation suggests that the regression procedure is able to pick up differences which would be of theoretical interest to the sociologist while the log-linear procedure, given the particular situation modelled here, does not. This is more likely to occur in those cases where the contexts compared have very different distributions. This does not reflect any problems in the log-linear technique itself. Ordered models are more likely to detect these differences because they are parsimonious with respect to degrees of freedom. However, this is not the only factor, methodological or theoretical, that needs to be considered in the choice of techniques. In particular, the findings alert us to difficulties inherent in testing sociological theories where (1) operationalizations of important concepts can result in very different measures and (2) conventional applications of these techniques fail to provide a valid test of proposed theoretical questions. Focussing on factors which may account for the differences observed, we address issues in the existing debate over the use of log-linear and regression models. We discuss the theoretical questions in stratification research for which log-linear techniques can be a useful tool and those for which it is misleading. Finally, we outline the theoretical and methodological tradeoffs in using each technique and suggest another not commonly employed in sociological research.

It is argued that nearly all structural features that Niklas Luhmann considers the decisive evolutionary merits of formal organization are lacking in Japanese-type systems. Nevertheless, it is precisely the regression to seemingly "traditional" forms of integration that enables the Japanese enterprise to develop the principle of organizational reflexivity to ultimate perfection. It is concluded that economic & cultural modernization may be contingent on, as well as contradictory to, each other. Modified AA

Großvorhaben politischer Gesellschaftsgestaltung wie die "Energiewende" können Anlass für eine sehr grundsätzlich ansetzende sozial- und gesellschaftstheoretische Reflexion der Rolle des Staates in der Moderne sein. Auf dieser Linie werden für die Frage politischer Gesellschaftsgestaltung relevante Überlegungen aus der soziologischen Gesellschafts- und Sozialtheorie vorgestellt. Nach einer Erinnerung an die Nicht-Selbstverständlichkeit derart großangelegter politischer Gestaltungsambitionen werden mehrere einander überlagernde gravierende Limitationen politischer Gestaltbarkeit von Vorhaben dieses Maßstabs aufgeführt: Das Komplexitätsprofil des relevanten gesellschaftlichen Geschehens; die funktional differenzierte und kapitalistische Ordnung der modernen Gesellschaft; Legitimitätsbedarfe in demokratischen politischen Ordnungen; Nationalstaaten unter Globalisierungsdruck.