Soziale Netzwerke aus der Perspektive konstruktivistischer Gesellschaftstheorien

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2006 im Fachbereich Soziologie - Individuum, Gruppe, Gesellschaft, Note: 1,3, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Institut für Soziologie), Veranstaltung: Soziale Netzwerke - Theorien und empirische Analysen, 18 Quellen im Literaturverzeichnis, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: This paper tries to explore how social networks can be conceptualized in a constructivist manner. Theoretical ideas are drawn from relational constructivism following Harrison White and Niklas Luhmann's systems theory, which I will compare within the first section of this paper. I will show that networks consist of relations, which have to be modelled as social structures that are different from communication, and can be seen as consisting of mutual expectations about social processes, therefore describing the probability of communication taking place. Knots in networks can be described as persons and evolve in the context and as a part of social structures. Finally, a closer look will be taken to how net-works are embedded in modern societies. The last section tries to reformulate classical insights regarding social networks from a systems theory point of view.