Conflict and social order in Niklas Luhmann's systems theory

Through the assimilation of contingency and complexity, Niklas Luhmann's social systems theory proposes a conceptualization of social order that is sensitive to those phenomena that challenge established institutional logics. This opening allows the integration of variation, change and conflict as possibilities always open in the reproduction of social systems as phenomena that are not antagonistic to social order. The purpose of this article is to analyse, specifically, the treatment of conflict that emerges from this conceptual manoeuvre. Our hypothesis is that, although the conflict is formally integrated in this theory, it is weakly explained as it partially recognizes the social conditions that make it viable. We argue that the probable cause of this deficit lies in the reproduction of a regulative conception of social order that is not sufficiently discussed regarding contingency and complexity.