40 years of Luhmann's legacy in the Anglophone academic community: a quantitative content analysis of Luhmannian research

Abstract

ABSTRACT The current study presents the longitudinal overview of 40 years of Luhmannian research in the Anglophone academic community by employing a quantitative content analysis. As the first study of this kind, this paper aims to explore the current topography of Luhmannian research. For the purpose, a total of 1,231 journal articles published in English were analyzed in terms of the number of articles in relation to several variables such as publication year, region, discipline, methodology, and the purpose of utilizing Luhmann. In summary, the key findings include: first, decreasing Anglo-American authors' contributions to the Luhmannian research in the English-language academic publications, as opposed to growing outputs of authors from continental Europe and other regions; second, the difference in the maturity of Luhmannian scholarship by region; third, the demonstration of the breadth and versatility of Luhmann's theory of systems; fourth, the capability of Luhmann's theory accommodating empirical research and its potential as a framework to lead fruitful research streams. This study is expected to provide a useful reference for Luhmannian researchers, as well as for authors from other research strands.