The Gray Zone of the Social: To the Issue of Conceptualization within the Framework of the Systemic Communicative Approach

Abstract

Within this paper, the authors attempt to conceptualize the notion of the «gray zone» as a phenomenon within the framework of social practices. They employ the systemic communicative approach, derived from Luhmann's social theory, as a relevant method to describe qualitative characteristics of the gray zone. Considering several cases from the banking and legal spheres, the authors outline the key features of gray zones as a set of heterogeneous communications that that are not involved in the reproduction (autopoiesis) of social systems. According to the systemic communicative approach, the gray zone can be seen as something the social system cannot interpret within the logic of its own communications, that is, until a certain time it cannot be observed and integrated into its communicative series. The authors conclude that studying the gray zone phenomenon and its conceptualization is possible only «post facto». However, an attempt to define a generalized description of this phenomenon based on empirical facts can serve as a starting point for developing strategies for managing and regulating this phenomenon in the future.