  I elaborate on the tension between Luhmann's social systems theory and
Habermas' theory of communicative action, and argue that this tension can be
resolved by focusing on language as the interhuman medium of the communication
which enables us to develop symbolically generalized media of communication
such as truth, love, power, etc. Following Luhmann, the layers of
self-organization among the differently codified subsystems of communication
versus organization of meaning at contingent interfaces can analytically be
distinguished as compatible, yet empirically researchable alternatives to
Habermas' distinction between "system" and "lifeworld." Mediation by a
facilitator can then be considered as a special case of organizing historically
contingent translations among the evolutionarily developing fluxes of
intentions and expectations. Accordingly, I suggest modifying Giddens'
terminology into "a theory of the structuration of expectations."
