ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces two leading German theorists, Niklas Luhmann and Jurgen Habermas and the tradition of systems theory in sociology. Similar to Durkheim, Luhmann's basic idea is that society gradually develops into an increasingly complex entity. To handle this complexity, society must differentiate itself into specialised subsystems with different functions. The development of modern society – a protracted development that took off especially in the 18th century – involves "functional differentiation". Habermas's work on the emergence and fall of the public sphere has quite a disheartening story to tell. The consequence of the impeachment of systems upon regions in which the rationality of the life world ought to be primary, e.g. family or the public sphere, is that a large number of pathologies arise. Whereas classic sociologists such as Durkheim describes differentiation as virtually a linear process, Luhmann and Habermas add substantial insight into the subsystems and sub-rationalities into which society is differentiated.
