| Summary: | Can Luhmann be read critically? Can Systems Theory be used as a sort of critical theory of capitalism? This book does not confront Marx against Luhmann, but combines them in order to reconstruct the internal connection between capitalism and the functional differentiation of society. Capitalism signifies thus not the primacy of economic relations, but an institutional arrangement supporting a specific logic of social reproduction. However, the development of this logic is characterized by deep contradictions, which unleash different patterns of accumulation and social conflicts. But this logic produces at the same time its own stability. Therefore, the task of changing society is more difficult than ever. We need a sophisticated conceptualization, to be obtained against dogmatic conceptions of any kind, if we want to understand this complicated dynamic. This book reinterprets key concepts of Systems Theory, loading them with historical contend, and rearticulating them within the framework of a theory of capitalism. The result is a renewed critical theory of society.
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