Michel Foucault developed one sophisticated and sensitive ways of understanding the discursive structures of the contemporary society. Another theory of this type is the Niklas Luhmann's autopoietic systems, which has some overlapping points with the thought of Foucault, but whose theoretical perspectives are so different that, side by side, the theories are immeasurable in the conceptually levels and only comparable in the metaphorically levels. However, the "Archive" notion in Foucault allows a connection with the concept of memory in Luhmann, providing opportunities for a dialectical approach, especially for historical research.
Archive; Memory; History; Niklas Luhmann; Michel Foucault