Invisibility and Incommunication. On the Ontological Status of Exclusion

Abstract

One of the most comprehensive attempts to approach the inclu- sion/exclusion complex comes from Luhmann’s Systems Theory. In this the- ory, one can recognize at least two ways of understanding the problem. After analyzing the key points of the dualistic conception which is the basis of the systemic-functional model, this article will defend the thesis that Luhmann has to change his perspective to address more effectively the problem of ex- clusion. For this purpose, I will critically reconstruct two of the central writ- ings of Luhmann’s later work to show how the second approach reveals the ontological constitutive dimension of social differentiation processes in order to overcome the contradictions of functional dualism. This dimension alone allows for exploring possible mechanisms that make explicit the hidden side of inclusion and reveals the role of the experience of exclusion as a privileged perspective, and immanent challenge, to the factual orders.