The Research Committee 51 (RC51) of the International Sociological Association (ISA) is one of the more than fifty Research Committees which, along with a large number of national sociological associations, constitute the ISA.
The RC51 on Sociocybernetics is oriented to promote the systemic perspective in the social sciences through sociocybernetics. This perspective integrates the general theory of systems, the cybernetics of first and second-order, and complexity sciences, with the aim to address complex social problems.
The group was founded in 1980 as an ISA Ad Hoc Group by Francisco Parra-Luna, who organized its sessions at subsequent World Congresses of Sociology (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994). The group became first a Thematic Group of the ISA, then a Working Group and in 1992 again a Thematic Group for lack of activities. In 1995 it was reactivated under the leadership of Felix Geyer, and the first board was elected with Kenneth Bailey, USA, as President and Felix Geyer, the Netherlands, as Secretary. The group – now with the label “sociocybernetics” – was re-recognized by the ISA first as a Working Group and at the 1998 World Congress of Sociology in Montreal as a Research Committee. It grew from some 30 members in early 1995 to about 140 members at the time of the 2002 World Congress of Sociology in Brisbane. At that point, about half of these members were also individual members of the parent association ISA.
It takes its particular strength from face-to-face interaction and intensive personal discussions that occur in the more intimate setting of the yearly International Conferences of Sociocybernetics.
RC51 offers to its members a Newsletter which was started in 1996 and a peer-reviewed electronic journal, The Journal of Sociocybernetics. This journal has been published by RC51 since 2000.
This website of RC51 provides detailed information about upcoming and past activities. It makes available bibliographic information and includes abstracts and papers presented by members of RC51 since 1998 both in the World Congresses of Sociology (held every four years) and in the International Conferences of Sociocybernetics which, since 1999, have been held in the years between the World Congresses.
The SPT is an ongoing unification of many systems theories and much systems-level research into one comprehensive and very detailed general theory of systems. SPT stresses the mechanics of how sustainable systems WORK. What they do to remain stable. SPT also involves integrating past systems insights and findings from 7 historical developmental phases of systems research with the conventional natural sciences literature that studies phenomena of natural processes. We maintain that each of the natural phenomena is an instance of a systems and so studying natural phenomena (even via reductionist science) yields factual information important to understanding “systemness.”
Systems Change Alliance is proud to present our new booklet, “Understanding Systems to Change the World”, authored by our co-founder Roar Bjonnes in collaboration with several renowned systems thinkers. This valuable resource is now available in PDF format and free of charge to all our subscribers and member organizations.
The booklet is structured into four comprehensive sections:
1. What is Systems Thinking? 2. The Systems Worldview and the Four Circles of Change 3. Systems Changemakers 4. Appendix: A Critical Examination of Potential Pitfalls in Systems Thinking and Activism
We encourage you to share this insightful publication widely with your network of friends and colleagues. By embracing systems thinking as a worldview and change activator, we can collectively work towards creating positive, lasting change in our interconnected world. Join us in this transformative journey and discover how understanding systems can empower us to address complex challenges and build a more equitable and resilient future.
For people and planet, Roar Bjonnes, Co-founder, Systems Change Alliance
Abstract: This article examines contemporary efforts to control climate change through the lens of social systems theory, particularly by drawing comparisons to rain dances and shamanic rituals. It argues that modern climate control strategies bear functional similarities to archaic rituals aimed at influencing weather patterns, despite the absence of direct causality. Using Niklas Luhmann’s concepts of autopoietic systems and functional equivalence, the article demonstrates that both historical and contemporary approaches to climate influence rely on blame‐shifting mechanisms and the social production of scapegoats, with failure often attributed not to the rituals or solutions themselves but to noncompliance or impurity among participants. The originality of this article lies in its application of social systems theory to link contemporary climate control strategies with ancient rituals, positioning them as functionally equivalent social phenomena. By drawing comparisons between shamanistic practices, corporate consulting, and global climate governance, the article provides a unique lens for understanding that the primary function of modern climate efforts may be to regulate social behaviour rather than achieving concrete natural environmental outcomes.
After 2,5 years of silence it is time to get back to blogging. A lot has happened. I had the pleasure to apply the Viable System Model at BOSCH Mobility, moved part-time to Gerlingen and I published a new book about Weak Signals. But now it is time to share my latest insights and potential use cases for the VSM.
VSMGPT – the virtual Viable System Model assistant
The end is the beginning – from AI back to the Viable System ModelAfter 2,5 years of silence it is time to get back to blogging. A lot has happened. I had the pleasure to apply the Viable System Model at BOSCH Mobility, moved part-time to Gerlingen and I published a new book about Weak Signals. But now it is time to share my latest insights and potential use cases for the VSM.VSMGPT – the virtual Viable System Model assistant
The SCSC is the UK’s professional network for sharing knowledge about system safety. It brings together engineers and specialists from a range of disciplines and industries working in system safety, academics researching the arena of system safety, providers of the tools and services that are needed to develop the systems, and the regulators who oversee safety.The SCSC provides seminars, workshops and tutorials throughout the year, with a three-day annual Safety-Critical Systems Symposium in February.
We advance an account that grounds cognition, specifically decision-making, in an activity all organisms as autonomous systems must perform to keep themselves viable—controlling their production mechanisms. Production mechanisms, as we characterize them, perform activities such as procuring resources from their environment, putting these resources to use to construct and repair the organism’s body and moving through the environment. Given the variable nature of the environment and the continual degradation of the organism, these production mechanisms must be regulated by control mechanisms that select when a production is required and how it should be carried out. To operate on production mechanisms, control mechanisms need to procure information through measurement processes and evaluate possible actions. They are making decisions. In all organisms, these decisions are made by multiple different control mechanisms that are organized not hierarchically but heterarchically. In many cases, they employ internal models of features of the environment with which the organism must deal. Cognition, in the form of decision-making, is thus fundamental to living systems which must control their production mechanisms.
At next year’s conference we are delighted to have Carolyn Pedwell, Professor of Digital Media in the Sociology Department at Lancaster University, as key note speaker to explore these themes with us. Amongst Carolyn’s publications is her book Revolutionary Routines: The Habits of Social Transformation (McGill-Queens UP, 2021), which explores the paradoxical quality of habits, which enact the possibility of continuity and change both at the same time.
The conference begins on Friday 6th June 2025 and finishes at lunchtime on Sunday 8th. The currency of the conference is conversation and exploration in large groups and small.
I will put up a payment site in the New Year. Look forward to seeing you there.
Unreachable companies and impersonal institutions: a crisis of unaccountability is fuelling popular rage and a mushroom cloud of conspiracy theories, a new book suggests. For answers, ignore economics and look to cybernetics, says Dan Davies
(IX) How to apply the Viable System Model to get a fast design or diagnosis of an organization (Introduction-Part IX)
This chapter briefly describes the framework for applying the Viable System Model (VSM) and the whole set of organizational pathologies.
One of the fastest ways to apply the VSM to diagnose an organization is to check if some known pathologies fit the issue. Similarly, as a medical doctor uses their knowledge about human pathologies by identifying which ones affect a patient to decide what to do, the manager facing an organization can do something similar to check which organizational pathologies are affecting the organization and determine what to do about them.
9th Business Systems Laboratory International Symposium: TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY. Boon or Bane?
Systems Community of Inquiry 
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