Guest lecture Johanna Mehl: SYSTEME sehen: Cybernetics and Social Sciences

Cybernetics emerged in the 1940s at the intersection of the natural sciences and philosophy, offering a common approach to the study of communication and control mechanisms in biological, mechanical and social systems. Although commonly associated with computers, cybernetics emerged as an influential theory in the 1960s to 1980s, shaping social fields of knowledge and humanities disciplines in particular. In this lecture, I will present how cybernetics shaped the social sciences and the ideas of how societies
(not) function and how they can be controlled. Building on my research looking at the intertwining of cybernetics, design and architecture, I will show how systems thinking has led professionals from different disciplines to focus on the whole rather than the parts, on processes rather than structures, on patterns rather than isolated elements.
processes rather than structures, patterns rather than isolated phenomena. While the discussion will be historical, it will also address current issues: What is left of cybernetic thinking today? What has it enabled us to see - and what has it obscured?

On April 29, 2026 16:30 Johanna Mehl will visit us for a guest lecture as part of the colloquium at the Institute of Sociology TU Dresden.
The event will take place at August-Bebel-Straße 30, 01219 Dresden in ABS 06-008.

All information can also be found in the following PDF: Guest lecture Johanna Mehl