Systems theory

System theory provides researchers with a transdisciplinary vocabulary and a framework for creating synergies between different disciplines. From a historical perspective, one can distinguish three generations of systems thinking which each represent a different research approach. The earliest of these relies on the notion of open systems, its successor on closed systems, and the current approach on autopoietic systems. This chapter discusses especially autopoietic system theory and its perspective on social phenomena in general and communication processes in particular.