Niklas Luhmann as a Theorist of Exclusion: A Journey from the Greek Polis to the Brazilian Favelas

This article looks at a vital feature in Niklas Luhmann’s social theory: the pair formed by inclusion and exclusion. In these pages, Luhmann’s understanding of “inclusion” and “exclusion” serve to study two crucial political landscapes in contemporary social theory: the Greek polis, still a foundational reference for European political thought, and the shantytowns of the Global South, sites that question the promises of Western modernity.