Organization as Paradox Communication : Luhmannian Contributions to 'Communication Constitutes Organization' (CCO)

A growing body of literature in organization studies draws on the assumption that communication constitutes organization, often abbreviated to CCO. In this paper, we introduce Luhmann’s theory of social systems as one explicit strain of CCO thinking. We particularly argue that Luhmann’s perspective lends itself to contributing to current conceptual debates on how communication constitutes organization. The theory of social systems highlights that organizations are fundamentally grounded in paradox, as they are built on communicative events that are contingent by nature. Consequently, organizations are driven by the continuous need to deparadoxify their inherent contingency. At this, Luhmann’s approach fruitfully combines a processual, communicative conceptualization of organization with the notion of boundary and self-referentiality. Notwithstanding these potential contributions, the transferability of insights is limited by the hermetic terminology the theory of social systems employs, and the fact that it neglects the role of material agency in the communicative construction of organization