Niklas Luhmann's Systems Theory and War

Abstract

This article deals with several current proposals to apply Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems to the sociology of war. In a recent contribution to this journal (ZfS 6/2013) Barbara Kuchler suggested that many features of modern wars can be understood along the lines of Luhmann's understanding of functional differentiation. According to modernization theory, the differentiation of societies is at the core of the sociological conception of the rise of modernity, and the concept of functional differentiation is a widely accepted element in the theory of world society. My argumentation points in the opposite direction: I maintain that a comparative analysis of wars leads to a critical revision and new interpretation of the role of war in the emergence of modernity. In a critical discussion of Kuchler's contribution, the limits of systems theory as well as noteworthy challenges for historical-sociological research on war in the modern age are identified.