Power-ideology matrix in social systems control

Abstract

Historical processes entailing power, ideology, and social control in sociocultural systems have been given scant attention in the literature of systems theory. Preference has instead been given to naturalistic accounts of systems behavior, using either “hard” or “soft” systems models. This paper argues that unless an account of systems stability and change is sought in the conscious actions of humans as makers or victims of history, no valid explanation of constancy and change, insofar as sociocultural systems are concerned, is likely to ensue from the current preoccupation with functionalist and even interpretive approaches. The argument is developed by examining the concepts of power and ideology, concepts which, borrowing Steven Lukes' aptly descriptive words, are “ineradically evaluative and essentially contested” but which, nevertheless, emerge jointly as the essential motif for any kind of social stability and change, be it conservative, reactionary, reformist, or radical.