Giddens' "structuration," Luhmann's "self-organization," and the operationalization of the dynamics of meaning; preprint version available

[Loet Leydesdorff]

Giddens' "structuration," Luhmann's "self-organization," 
and the operationalization of the dynamics of meaning

Abstract: 
Luhmann's social systems theory and Giddens' structuration theory of action
share an emphasis on reflexivity, but focus on meaning along a divide
between inter-human communication and intentful action as two different
systems of reference. Recombining these two theories, simulations of
interaction, organization, and self-organization of intentional
communication can be distinguished by using algorithms from the computation
of anticipatory systems. The self-organizing and organizing layers remain
rooted in the double contingency of the human encounter which provides the
variation. Organization and self-organization of communication are reflexive
upon and therefore reconstructive of each other. Using mutual information in
three dimensions, the imprint of meaning processing in the modeling system
on the historical organization of uncertainty in the modeled system can be
measured. This is shown empirically in the case of intellectual organization
as "structurating" structure in the textual domain of scientific articles. 

http://arxiv.org/abs/0911.5565v1
http://www.leydesdorff.net/GiddensLuhmann/index.htm 

** apologies for cross posting	
 
________________________________

Loet Leydesdorff 
Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR)
Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX Amsterdam.
Tel. +31-20-525 6598; fax: +31-842239111
loet at leydesdorff.net ; <http://www.leydesdorff.net/>