THE LEGAL SUBSYSTEM AND THE FUNCTION OF STABILIZING SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS IN NIKLAS LUHMANN’S SOCIAL SYSTEM THEORY

Abstract

The present study analyzes the role of law in the dynamic stabilization of modern society based on the theory of autopoietic social systems. Starting from the premise that modernity is characterized by complexity and contingency, the article departs from consensual and normative diagnoses. In the Luhmannian perspective, stability should not be equated with order or harmony, but rather refers to society’s capacity to continue operating over time through the autopoietic reproduction of communication. In this context, expectations play the role of orienting future communications. The article argues that law, as a functionally differentiated system, contributes to social stability by stabilizing normative expectations through institutionalized decisions and its own procedures. Such stabilization does not eliminate risks or disappointments, but transforms uncertainty into temporally structured expectations, thereby rendering contingency manageable. The analysis emphasizes the decisional character of judicial procedures, particularly the role of courts in producing provisional closures of the indeterminacy of the future. Methodologically, the study adopts a theoretical-systemic perspective, reconstructing Luhmann’s theory of autopoietic social systems and articulating relevant concepts such as stability, contingency, and expectation in order to delineate the limits and explanatory potentials of this framework in addressing the problem of stability in modern society.