Page 126 - Sustainability Communication Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Theoritical Foundations

Chapter 10
Sustainability Communication:

A Systemic-Constructivist Perspective

Horst Siebert

Abstract Systems theory and constructivism as background theories are widely
discussed. This chapter gives an overview of the core theses, key terms and observer
perspectives of this paradigm, with reference to the special features of systemic
thinking. The interconnectedness of cognition and emotion as well as the construc-
tion of reality through language are important for the sustainability discussion.

Keywords Systems theory • Constructivism • Cognition • Emotion • Constructive
epistemology

Niklas Luhmann’s Systems Theory

Systems theory and constructivism are common ‘background theories’ and are used
in education, therapy, social work and media communication. One of the best known
proponents of systems theory is the sociologist Niklas Luhmann. His core thesis is
that the more complex the overall social system, the more important the functional
subsystems, such as the health, educational, science systems etc. In order for such a
subsystem to operate functionally, the boundaries between system and environment
(not in an ecological sense) have to be clear-cut.
Systems are characterized by autopoiesis (self-organization) and self-reference.
Both social systems and psychic systems (that is, human consciousness) are self-
referential. They generate their own value standards from themselves, that is from
their own history and experiences, even though they are continually confronted
with external referential demands. But it is because of their self-referential nature
that a system (e.g. the school system) can handle such external expectations in a

H. Siebert (*)
Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany
e-mail: sarah.koehler@ifbe.uni-hannover.de

J. Godemann and G. Michelsen (eds.), Sustainability Communication: Interdisciplinary 109
Perspectives and Theoretical Foundations, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1697-1_10,
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011