RC51 is the Research Committee on Sociocybernetics of the International Sociological Association.

We aim to promote the development of sociocybernetic theory and research within the social sciences. Sociocybernetics is broadly defined here as applications within the social sciences of first- and second-order cybernetics, general systems theory and the various combinations and variations of these that can be subsumed under the term “the emerging sciences of complexity”.

Read more on RC51 in the about section.

Welcome to RC51 Website

New issue of Journal of Sociocybernetics is out!

Volume 20 No. 1 (2025) includes the following paper:

Anthropocene in a Media Perspective. Jesper TÆKKE

You can grab the open access full papers following this link.

Changes to the Journal of Sociocybernetics in 2025

Dear all,

Thank you for your support over the years and for your continued commitment to the Journal of Sociocybernetics. Your contributions, whether as authors, reviewers, or readers, have been invaluable in shaping the journal, and we appreciate your ongoing engagement.

After consultation within the RC51 board and discussions with the head of an external academic publisher, we have decided to implement some changes to the journal in 2025.

First, the journal will now operate under a continuous publication model. This means that instead of waiting for a full issue to be compiled, accepted articles will be published immediately upon completion of the peer-review process. This change will allow research to be disseminated more quickly and efficiently.

Additionally, we have decided to switch to a single-blind peer review process. This means that while reviewers will remain anonymous to authors, reviewers will now be able to see the identities of the authors. The primary reason for this change is to allow members of the journal’s editorial team—who were not able to act as reviewers under the previous system—to participate in the review process. This will significantly speed up review times while maintaining rigorous academic standards.

We believe these changes will improve the journal’s efficiency and impact, and we look forward to your continued contributions.

Best regards,
Andrew Mitchell
Editor, Journal of Sociocybernetics

Next Open Online Activity

Open sessions will be organized to meet at regular interval to discuss current themes of research in the Sociocybernetic framework. The choice of concepts to discuss will be made during the process taking into consideration the interests of the participants. Launching this kind of activity is based on ideas of co-learning and co-innovation. The activity started in the autumn 2024 focusing on the concept TIME chosen for the first two discussions.

Based on the suggestions given by the participants in the December 2024 session, the concept ORDER was chosen for the discussion in February. In the following session in March, we will continue the discussions on the concept ORDER based on questions such as What is the relationship of ORDER and TIME?

The second session in the spring 2025 will take place on Zoom at 3:00 – 4:30 pm Finnish time on Wednesday the 26th of March 2025.
Note also the third session (7.5.), that will be organized on the same time.
Please, check the correct time according to your own time zone at: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Join with your view! Thoughts, questions and literature shedding light to this concept are warmly welcome. The sessions are initiated, led and facilitated, also in form of collaborative documentation of the discussions, by Finnish RC51 members, Mikael Kivelä and Raija Koskinen.

Please, register in advance (preferably a week before, 19th March) for this meeting with this link:
https://hamk.zoom.us/meeting/register/c-yTDBQeSN6vgbFSUYvvXA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Contact information related to these meetings preferably: raija.koskinen@hamk.fi see also my Häme University of Applied Sciences Finder entry Also reachable with my affiliation in the University of Helsinki: raija.koskinen@helsinki.fi

Do not hesitate to get in touch if you have questions, comments, or suggestions.

Call for Contributions to the RC51 Newsletter 45

Dear RC51 members and friends,

I’m Satoshi Iguchi, the editor of the RC51 newsletter.

As announced by Saburo Akahori, the president of RC51, we are currently seeking contributions for the upcoming Issue No. 45, scheduled for release in March 2025.

We welcome contributions including announcements, conference reports, essays, or book reviews etc.
If you have insights or experiences from recent conferences, or books you’ve reviewed, or any information you would like to announce to the members, please feel free to contribute a text.

Deadline for contributions: Friday 28, 2025.
Please send your manuscripts to siguchi05@gmail.com.

While there is no strict words limit or format, typically, reports and essays range from 500-600 words, and book reviews from 1000-2000 words.

For more information on the newsletter and to access previous issues, please visit: https://sociocybernetics.org/newsletter

We look forward to your contributions.
Thank you for your continued support of RC51’s conferences and activities.

Thank you so much,

Satoshi Iguchi
Editor of the RC51 Newsletter

Next Open Online Activity

Open sessions will be organized to meet at regular interval to discuss current themes of research in the Sociocybernetic framework. The choice of concepts to discuss will be made during the process taking into consideration the interests of the participants. Launching this kind of activity is based on ideas of co-learning and co-innovation. The activity started in the autumn 2024 focusing on the concept TIME chosen for the first two discussions.

The first session in the spring 2025 will take place on Zoom at 3:00 – 4:30 pm Finnish time on Wednesday 12th February 2025.
Please, check the correct time according to your own time zone: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html
Note also two other sessions (26.3. and 7.5.), that will be organized on the same time.

Based on the suggestions given by the participants in the December 2024 session, the concept ORDER was chosen for the discussion in February. Join with your view! Thoughts, questions and literature shedding light to this concept are warmly welcome. The sessions are initiated, led and facilitated, also in form of collaborative documentation of the discussions, by Finnish RC51 members, Mikael Kivelä and Raija Koskinen.

Please, register in advance (preferably a week before, 5th February) for this meeting with this link:
https://hamk.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5wtf-qrrzgsHd06ewOyanTm54aUMQjVyevm

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Contact information related to these meetings preferably: raija.koskinen@hamk.fi see also my Häme University of Applied Sciences Finder entry Also reachable with my affiliation in the University of Helsinki: raija.koskinen@helsinki.fi

Do not hesitate to get in touch if you have questions, comments, or suggestions.

Next Open Online Activity

Open sessions will be organized to meet at regular interval to discuss current themes of research in the Sociocybernetic framework. The choice of concepts to discuss will be made during the process taking into consideration the interests of the participants. Launching this kind of activity is based on ideas of co-learning and co-innovation. We will continue the discussions on the concept TIME chosen for the first two discussions as many aspects worthy for profound reflections have been raised already. Join with your view! Further thoughts, questions and literature shedding light to this concept are warmly welcome. The sessions are initiated, led and facilitated, also in form of collaborative documentation of the discussions, by Finnish RC51 members, Mikael Kivelä and Raija Koskinen.

The third session will on Zoom at 3:00 – 4:30 pm Finnish time (12:00 – 13:30 UTC time) on Thursday 12th December 2024.

Please, register in advance (preferably a week before, 5th December) for this meeting with this link:
https://hamk.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5EucuqvqjkrEtXzcYYfI17m3-sAvd0DqD9E

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Contact information related to these meetings preferably: raija.koskinen@hamk.fi see also my Häme University of Applied Sciences Finder entry Also reachable with my affiliation in the University of Helsinki: raija.koskinen@helsinki.fi

Do not hesitate to get in touch if you have questions, comments, or suggestions.