Observing ideologies. A systems-theoretical approach

This article presents a conceptual analysis of Luhmann's systems theory as a framework for ideology research. To clarify the distinction between ideology/non-ideology as a guideline for empirical analyses, it derives a systems-theoretical concept of ideology from Luhmann's works, as well as the sociological foundations for its empirical operationalization. It does so by addressing two questions: First, it asks what we observe when we observe ideologies; and second, how we observe ideologies when we observe them. Both questions converge in an analysis of the functions of ideological meaning structures in systems operations with an understanding of their construction through second-order observations. As a result, ideologies emerge as social constructions of objectively given structures and operations with instructive, expressive, and reflexive functions that are hardly defined by strict boundaries but are often controversial and sometimes appear where we would not presume them at first glance.