ABSTRACT
System theory is the basis for many more sociological analyses of sport. Sociological system theory is closely linked with Niklas Luhmann, a renowned sociologist, who published countless books and articles on this subject, mostly in German. Luhmann argues that the conventions of quantitative empirical research have fundamental shortcomings. From the outset, the use of functionalist methods played a central role in Luhmann’s long-term project. Social systems for Luhmann are autopoietic systems, like cognitive or biological systems. Helmut Willke, another renowned German system theorist, described Luhmann’s depiction of communications as the basic operators of society as a ‘communicative turning point’ within sociology. Luhmann differentiates two basic types of decision premises: decidable and undecidable. Combining Luhmann’s theoretical perspective with Norbert Elias’s game model and Michel Foucault’s power and discourse analysis, U. Wagner advances a new and interesting view of how sport and society may try to cope with doping in sport.
