The Luhmannian approach to exclusion/inclusion and its relevance to Social Work

Abstract

Although the concept of social exclusion is central to the academic discipline of social work, there is not much theoretical clarity about what it actually means. For instance, exclusion is used as a synonym for poverty, marginalization, detachment, unemployment, or solitude. We argue that the systems-theoretical framework developed by the German social theorist Niklas Luhmann provides the conceptual tools to understand inclusion and exclusion in a theoretically adequate way that is highly relevant to Social Work. Since there is scarcely any literature on Luhmann's work in the field of social work not written in German, this article aims to provide a systematic introduction to the Luhmannian theory of society with respect to the distinction of inclusion/exclusion and its relation to social work to an English-speaking audience.Findings: After a presentation of some basic concepts, it will be argued that exclusion is not a problem per se nor is inclusion always and per se unproblematic. The Luhmannian approach suggests that inclusion and exclusion are operations of social systems that treat human beings as relevant addresses for communication. Against that background, systems theory gives a clear and accurate description of what social work can (and cannot) do in terms of inclusion/exclusion.Applications: The main purpose of social work is exclusion management. Exclusion management involves working on the social addresses of individuals with the aim of

Membership and contributorship in organizations: An update of modern systems theory

“…Scholars assert that organizations have to distinguish between members and non‐members; that they have to preselect individuals to become members before allowing them to participate in the organizational processes; and that the boundary of an organization is defined by who are members and who are not members (see, e.g., Ahrne, 1994; Aldrich, 2008; King, Felin, & Whetten, 2010; Scott & Davis, 2007). This is true also for modern systems theory as developed by Luhmann (2012, 2013) (see, e.g., Andersen & Born, 2008; Kette & Tacke, 2015; Kühl, 2015; Nassehi, 2005; Schirmer & Michailakis, 2015). Although defining organizations as processual entities consisting of decision communications, Luhmann insisted that organizations need to preselect certain persons as members in an appointment procedure thereby distributing rights to participate in the organizational communication processes (Luhmann, 2018, p. 45).…”

“…In modern systems theory, membership is so far seen as a necessary precondition for the construction of an organization (Drepper, 2005; Kühl, 2013, 2015; Nassehi, 2005; Schirmer & Michailakis, 2015). Although Luhmann defined organizations as social systems that consist of decision communications, he insisted on the significance of predecided memberships.…”

“…Hence, in the existing Luhmannian understanding, membership describes a decision on appointment or dismissal of ‘specific persons' (Andersen & Pors, 2014, p. 178) that serves as a premise for organizational decision‐making processes by granting and ascribing certain rights and duties to participate in these very decision processes (Luhmann, 2018, p. 45). This understanding of membership remains very popular among many scholars who employ modern systems theory, for example, in works on foreign aid (Kühl, 2015), social work (Schirmer & Michailakis, 2015) or university rankings (Kette & Tacke, 2015; for more examples, see Andersen & Born, 2008; Drepper, 2005; Kühl, 2013; Martens, 2006; Nassehi, 2005). Building on this understanding, scholars could even show that some organizations push the conditions of membership to the extreme, for example, when organizations specify membership as ‘always preliminary, always open, and always ready to become something else' (Andersen & Pors, 2014, p. 179).…”

En scenariobaserad analys av ett IT-avbrott i socialtjänsten

“…Som benämningen funktionssystem antyder utmärks ett sådant av att det har en funktion i betydelsen av att "vara lösningsinstans för särskilda problem" (Michailakis & Schirmer, 2017, s. 75). I det sociala arbetets fall är det fråga om exkluderingsförvaltning (Michailakis, & Schirmer, 2017) eller exkluderingshantering (Schirmer & Michailakis, 2015) givet att just inkludering utgör länken mellan människor och samhälle (ibid.). Det sociala arbetets funktion är att genom att verka för ställföreträdande inkludering av personer motverka destruktiva effekter av exkludering ur andra funktionssystem (Jönhill, 2012) som kan ha kumulativa konsekvenser.…”

Social work and social problems: A contribution from systems theory and constructionism

“…The Luhmannian approach has already gained some prominence in social work, although mainly in a German (Baecker, 1994;Bommes & Scherr, 2000;Merten, 2000) and a Scandinavian context (La Cour, 2002;Moe, 2003;Nissen, 2010). Publications in international journals are still rather scarce (Nissen, 2014;Scherr, 1999;Schirmer & Michailakis, 2014;Villadsen, 2008;Wirth, 2009). Particular attention has been directed at the study of the function of organised social help and its relation to society.…”