Their work hereafter termed autopoietic theory concretely addresses each of the issues discussed above as follows. Self organization relies on four basic ingredients. The process can be spontaneous when sufficient energy is available, not needing control by any external agent. It is evident that there is a need for dialogue involving the social philosophers, who based on a series of radical theoret icalconstructivist assumptions somehow agree with the poststructuralism postulates. Autopoiesis and allopoiesis the class of systems that exhibit the auto poietic organization, we shall cab autopoietic systems. Autopoiesis is a theory of social systems which is based on biological theories of the cell. Theory that living systems are self producing mechanisms which maintain their particular form despite material inflow and outflow, through selfregulation and selfreference. Mar 30, 2007 an examination of the literature on the topic of autopoietic, or selfproducing systems, presented to accompany a research paper in complex systems 501 at the university of michigan.
The author compares the theoretical elements of her grounded theory, protecting self. Maturana humberto r varela francisco j autopoiesis. This document introduces one welldeveloped theory of selforganization autopoietic theory and discusses its application to enterprises. Autopoiesis, adaptivity, teleology, agency 431 to a theorem exclusiveness of causa ef. The autopiesis is a metaphor which explains three themes 1 how systems construct and maintain their own. An autopoietic systems theory for creativity sciencedirect. Autopoiesis can be defined as the ratio between the complexity of a system and the complexity of its environment. This document introduces one welldeveloped theory of self organization autopoietic theory and discusses its application to enterprises. To this end we have argued goldspink and kay 2003, 2004, for a synthesis of autopoietic and complexity theory, where autopoietic theory provides a basis for understanding the characteristics of the microlevel agents that make up social systems human individuals, whilst complexity theory provides a basis for understanding how these. A central element within the theory of autopoiesis is the concept of structural. Autopoiesis, adaptivity, teleology, agency ezequiel a. Autopoiesis in organization theory and practice advanced.
It will be argued that autopoietic theory as developed by maturana and varela 1980, offers a useful epistemological basis from which the idea of organizational knowledge may be considered and km may develop as a discipline. Although organization studies have recently had no shortage of new paradigms and approaches such as postmodernism, phenomenology. Autopoiesis, organization theory, nicklas luhman, social systems theory, self observation, karl. The process called autopoiesis purports to capture this invariant feature of living systems, which are characterised as living machines. To incorporate metabolic, bioremedial functions into the performance of buildings and to balance generative architectures dominant focus on computational programming and digital fabrication, this text first discusses hybridizing maturana and varelas biological theory of autopoiesis with andy clarks hypothesis of extended cognition. We use the theory as a metaphor which highlights three themes. The main contribution of maturana and varelas 1980 autopoietic theory has been to provide a concise specification. The autopoietic organization is but one of them, yet it is the one that by definition implies the realization of a dynamic unity. There is no closed circle that needs to be explained via luhmanns extraordinarily paradoxical linguistic contortions. Morgan 1986 attempted to adapt autopoiesis to organizational science. The autopoiesis of architecture patrik schumachers. Although the theory of autopoietic systems was originally formulated to explain the phenomenon of life from an operational and temporal perspective, sociologist niklas luhmann incorporated it. Pdf autopoiesis in organization theory and practice.
Autopoiesis and critical social systems theory christian fuchs and wolfgang hofkirchner autopoiesis and critical social systems theory christian fuchs, wolfgang hofkirchner 1 introduction maturana and varela 1980, p. A must read for anyone interested in finding out what luhmanns social systems theory can contribute to organization theory. An autopoietic machine is a machine organized defined as a unity as. This generalized view of autopoiesis considers systems as selfproducing not in terms of their physical components, but in terms of its organization, which can be measured in terms of information and complexity. Autopoiesis in organization theory and practice advanced series in management advanced management rodrigo magalhaes, rodrigo magalhaes on. Pdf organisational autopoiesis and knowledge management. Autopoiesis and open access repositories malgorzata pankowska university of economics, katowicepoland abstract in this paper the relevance of the theory of autopoiesis is discussed for understanding the evolution of open digital repositories. Maturana humberto r varela francisco j autopoiesis and.
It is evident that there is a need for dialogue involving the social philosophers, who based on a series of radical theoret icalconstructivist assumptions somehow agree with the. May 20, 2015 the premise of the novel is an attempt to create a comprehensive and unified theory of architecture. Autopoietic systems are organizationally or operationally closed. They went further and postulated theories concerning the nervous system and the development of cognition. School of managementuniversity of leicester please do not quote before contact the author at. It will be argued that autopoietic theory as developed by maturana and varela 1980, offers a useful epistemological basis from which the idea of organizational knowledge may be considered and km may develop as a. This paper aims to introduce these ideas and to explore the main implications. So, social systems receive inputs and generate outputs in ways which must be studied closely. These four conceptualizations of autopoiesis in biology, sociology, organization theory, and. Antecedents a there is no adequate theory of the organization of living systems as individual autonomous unities. The components, through their interaction, generate recursively. An autopoietic organization is an autonomous and selfmaintaining unity which contains componentproducing processes.
These documents augment or expand on the theories foundations. Regardless of your views on the importance of parametric design or schumacher himself, i challenge you to analyze schumachers theory from a neutral standpoint. Niklas luhmann neosystemic theory and the notion of. Selforganization, autopoiesis, and enterprises randall whitaker, phd abstract selforganization is a popular theme in current studies of human social activity, enterprises, and information technology it. It refers to a system which can reproduce and sustain itself the term was introduced in 1972 by chilean biologists humberto maturana and francisco varela to define the selfmaintaining chemistry of living cells. Auxiliary or followon literature on autopoiesis and enaction. Autopoiesis definition of autopoiesis by merriamwebster. Evan thompson canada research chair in cognitive science and the embodied mind, department of.
Self organization, autopoiesis, and enterprises randall whitaker, phd abstract self organization is a popular theme in current studies of human social activity, enterprises, and information technology it. An examination of the literature on the topic of autopoietic, or selfproducing systems, presented to accompany a research paper in complex systems 501 at the university of michigan. The overriding idea is that autopoiesis theory has the potential to provide a unifying framework for the study of organizational phenomena in the 21st century. The concept of autopoiesis has long surpassed the realm of biology. I want to emphasize that the theory of autopoiesis defines biological life as a particular pattern of organization a selfgenerating network within a boundary of its own making. Autopoiesis resources new introduction to reflexive autopoietic systems theory reflexive autopoietic dissipative special systems theory.
For many years we have been concerned with the role that autopoietic theory can play in resolving what is often termed the micromacro problem in social science. Autonomy is the distinctive phenomenolo gy resulting from an autopoietic organization. Maturana humberto r varela francisco j autopoiesis and cognition the realization of the living. An approach to emergent metasystems through holonomics. Patrik schumacher, the autopoiesis of architecture, vol. The approach is based on autopoietic system theory, where an autopoietic system is defined as a unity whose organization is defined by a particular network of production processes of elements. Introduction to autopoiesis theory and autopoietic steering. The two volumes together present a complete outline of the theory of architectural autopoiesis, a systematic treatise on architecture. The cognitive theories of maturana and varela springerlink.
Self organization is an example of the related concept of emergence. Autopoiesis in organization theory and practice advanced series in management advanced management. A key distinction is made between organization and structure. In this paper, a new, nonpsychological and nonsociological approach to understanding creativity is proposed. Ive added an element that relates to the book, the autopoiesis of architecture, which is an attempt to create a comprehensive and unified theory of architecture, and which features parametricism as the last chapter of volume two. Autopoiesis refers to life and other selforganising systems. Autopoiesis definition is the property of a living system such as a bacterial cell or a multicellular organism that allows it to maintain and renew itself by regulating its composition and conserving its boundaries. Proposed by chilean scientists humberto maturana 1928 and francisco varela 19462001 in late 1960s or early 1970s, it combines the concepts of. In the theory of autopoiesis put forward by maturana and varela 1980, information.
Luhmanns theory of autopoietic social systems lmu munchen. Since then the concept has also been applied to systems theory and. In the organizational world, there are forces which are informal, enduring, and hard to. It does not specify the physical structures in which the network is embodied. Goldspink, chris and kay, robert 2009 autopoiesis and organizations. Autopoiesis and critical social systems theory christian. Autopoiesis simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. These measures are derived from proposed axioms and tested in two case studies. Mary jo hatch, professor of commerce, mcintire school of commerce, university of virginia the authors provide useful insights. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. A proposal for the biological grounding of intrinsic teleology and sensemaking through the theory of autopoiesis is critically evaluated. Find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate.
Self organization has also been observed in mathematical systems such as cellular automata. Maturana and varela developed the concept of autopoiesis to explain the phenomena of living organisms. These theories have radical conclusions concerning human thought, language, and social activity. Autopoiesis of the sinitic communication system by anking. I what follows is a theorybased proposition for research methods directed to support design in the context of biogenerative. A biological view of organizational change and methods for its study working paper. Selforganization, also called in the social sciences spontaneous order, is a process where some form of overall order arises from local interactions between parts of an initially disordered system. Let us begin by understanding what the autopoiesis of architecture might be.
Autopoiesis, meaning selfproduction, is a closed system that recursively generates the same organization, components, and network of processes from which they are. Autopoiesis and the evolution of information systems vrije. Luhmanns theory of autopoietic social systems david seidl the central concept around which the theory of social systems as developed by the later niklas luhmann is built is the concept of autopoiesis, originally developed by the two chilean biologists humberto maturana and francisco varela. It has been used in areas so diverse as sociology, psychotherapy, management, anthropology, organizational culture, and many others.
Autopoiesis is a dominant concept in a sociological theory developed by luhmann 1984. Di paolo cogs, ccnr, department of informatics, university of sussex, uk email. Related literature literature relevant to autopoiesis and enaction e. The wider body of autopoietic theory expresses this idea, and a number of other ideas supporting and expanding on it, representing a complete and coherent worldview. Physical basis for the emergence of autopoiesis, cognition. It is often triggered by seemingly random fluctuations, amplified by positive feedback. A biological view of organizational change and methods for its study. That is to say, the behavior of the system is not specified or controlled by its environ ment but. In other social sciences, though its value is not undisputed, the attention given to the concept is growing. The remainder of this document will introduce and discuss the concept of autopoiesis, created by the chilean biologists humberto maturana and francisco varela 1980. The lecture is a variation on a lecture i have been giving this year.
Autopoiesis organization theory practice semantic scholar. Category theoretical formalization of autopoiesis from. By analyzing the concepts of organization and closure, the idea of components, and the role of materiality in the theory. The premise of the novel is an attempt to create a comprehensive and unified theory of architecture. December 8, 1927 november 6, 1998 was a german sociologist, philosopher of social science, and a prominent thinker in systems theory, who is considered one of the most important social theorists of the 20th century. Autopoiesis the process whereby an organization produces itself. Attempts to apply a modern theory of living organisms the theory of autopoiesis. Experiencing organizational change, with autopoiesis, a biological theory of living systems. This paper presents a biological view of knowledge and organizations formulated to provide a framework for understanding organizational knowledge and organizational knowledge management systems. Morgan 1986 attempted to adapt autopoiesis to organizational science, while teubner 1989a has done the same in the field of law.