Communication overload in interaction systems

Abstract

The article aims at exploring the relevance of Luhmann's sociological systems theory to understand disability as communication about impairments. The questions to be considered in the following are: What happens to interaction systems when confronted with individuals with psychical or physical impairments (deviating bodies, perception difficulties, difficulties to process information)? What are the essential characteristics of interaction where disabled people participate? Trying to answer these questions, a broader question is raised: In which ways does communication in interaction systems become strained or overloaded? I argue that from the viewpoint of systems theory, disability as a social phenomenon, as part of social systems ‐ historically evolved and intelligible only in a systems/environment relationship ‐ must be linked to communication. Individuals’ impairments strain interaction with respect to time, objectively and socially because interaction systems are a combination of perception and communication.