Social knowledge for a world in transition: Sociocybernetics and the contemporary transformation of the structures of knowledge

Abstract

Purpose

To provide an overview of the historical development of non‐reductive currents in science that underpinned the sociocybernetic movement and from that perspective assess the importance of the movement for social science.

Design/methodology/approach

Examines the principles of general system theory, cybernetics, and sociocybernetics, in a relevant selection of the founding literatures as an outgrowth of the long‐term development of the structures of knowledge in the modern world and as related to contemporary geopolitics and the world‐economy.

Findings

Indicates how sociocybernetics, as a holistic alternative, may be a part of the solution to the crisis of analytic approaches in applications targeting an understanding and interpretation of human reality.

Originality/value

Suggests how scholars may confront today's world as active agents without losing their status as producers of authoritative knowledge.

Citation

Lee, R.E. (2006), "Social knowledge for a world in transition: Sociocybernetics and the contemporary transformation of the structures of knowledge", Kybernetes, Vol. 35 No. 3/4, pp. 461-470. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920610653746