Boundary of social systems
From Geography
Social systems differ from each other and therefore are defined by boundaries. This is what Koch in short implies with his analysis of the family. "Like every social system the family is a closed system. The notion of closure is, thereby, related to the operational process, i.e. for a family to exist as a family it is necessary to draw a boundary. This is executed by the family itself" (Koch, 2005, p.6). A social system can often be connected to a spatial entity, therefore boundaries of social systems often overlay the boundaries of physical environments. As an example Koch takes the home which belongs to a family. But Koch (2005, p.6) puts it even to the extreme, saying "it is at least necessary for it [a social system] to be linked to psychic systems – and what I would like to point out to spatial systems".
Though, in the eyes of Gilles Deleuze, borders, as in the sense of differences are not existing until they are found to be valid. If a family would be studied by Deleuze, he would perhaps only notice the coherence and a shared identity when the family under study is compared to another family. From his perspective something can only be debarqued when it is opposed to something else. This ambiguity derives through language: "it is language which fixes the limits ... but it is language as well which transcends the limits and restores them to the infinite equivalence of an unlimited becoming" (Deleuze, n.d., p.40).
Also Niklas Luhmann spoke about boundaries of the social system in his work. From his perspective, boundaries are created by the selectivity of subsystems self. A differentiation of subsystems takes place, to simplify reality. Economy for example is only concerned with money, while the subsystem science for example has excluded money and other things which aren't related to truth. The subsystem has created and defined its own boundaries: a case of autopoiesis.
References:
Deleuze (?). What Is Becoming? in Constantin v Bounds (ed.) The Deleuze Reader. New York: Colombia University press
Ernste, H. (08-10-2010). Theory of Social Systems- Niklas Luhmann. Personal communication
Koch, A. (2005). Autopoietic spatial systems: the significance of actor network theory and system theory for the development of a system theoretical approach of space. in Social Geography, nr.1, p.5-14
Published by Lorenzo Goudsmits (s0827991) & Lisanne Dols (s0822701)
Links added by --JikkeVanTHof 15:18, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
