The relational paradigm: Its implications for the understanding and organization of society

Today, the feeling is that society is becoming increasingly fragmentary, uncertain, fluctuating, liquid, estranged and manipulated. In other words, it is decreasingly ‘human’, if not inhuman,1 in its everyday social relationships. Social problems are increasing, whilst solutions are receding. In the Western world, especially in Europe, there is a feeling of deep unease and increasingly vocal expressions of dissatisfaction. This issue has been discussed by most major contemporary sociologists, such as Niklas Luhmann, Ulrich Beck or Zigmunt Bauman.