Dyadism in the Sociological Foundations of Luhmann and Latour: Communication and Association Compared

Abstract

In this paper we compare the programs of Niklas Luhmann’s General
Theory of Social Systems (GTSS) and Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network
Theory (ANT) from a systematic perspective based on the comparison
of functional equivalents related to what are considered the main
problems addressed by sociology. We propose to compare three
specifi c concepts from the theoretical foundations of their sociological
programs, namely: the defi nition of sociology’s unit of analysis and its
connections to the unitary factor of social order and the sequential
factor of social change. Our hypothesis suggests that, although they
diverge in emphasis and nuances, both programs converge in the
dyadic defi nition of the sociological unit of analysis.