Functional differentiation of modern society entails autonomy and operational closure of social systems. That condition can be compensated by mechanisms of structural coupling between systems which aim to a relatively integrated societal coordination. Nonetheless, neither systemic conflicts, interventions, de-differentiations, nor systemic outcomes that affect the social environment -such as ecological risks or poverty- are unusual events in modern society. This article raises the question about the conditions under which a systemic steering of these problems is possible without exercising an authoritative intervention in social systems. The principle of a contextual systemic intervention as a pragmatic coordination of intransparencies are explained and illustrated. The function of this strategy consists in increasing the contingency of the addressee with communicative offers in the language of the system; its performance aims to deal with the diagnosed problems.
Mascareño, A. (2011). Sociology of Intervention: Contextual Systemic Steering. MAD, (25), 1–33. Retrieved from https://revistaderechoambiental.uchile.cl/index.php/RMAD/article/view/15656
