Hva holder egentlig samfunnet sammen? Dydene i Aristoteles' polis synes forlengst å ha tapt sin autoritet gudstroen er svekket og fliset opp i mangfoldige retninger. Max Weber snakker om 'avmystifisering' av verden, Durkheim om 'anomi', Habermas om 'kolonialisering av livsverden'. Postmoderne tenkere spinner videre: ideologiene oppløses og identiteten desentreres. Smaken er oppløst i en endimensjonal informasjonsflom fra alle hold. Alle henviser til uintenderte virkninger av samfunnsutviklingen, som paradoksalt nok dukker opp i kjølvannet av den moderne trangen til rasjonalitet og sosial kontroll. Det handler om modernitetens differensiering.
The essay addresses the sociological debate on social integration and differentiation as a defining feature of modernity, and the possible significance of the mass media in such theories. The introductory part discusses Durkheim's view on the social division of labour, and Weber's theory of the rationalisation of society. It then goes more closely into Weber's theory of the differentiation of value-spheres, with semi-autonomous norms and forms of legitimation. This then leads to a discussion of Luhmann's theory of the differentiation of social systems. The essay argues that the media should be considered as one such social system, with its own codes and ways of observing its environment. The last part of the essay discusses the principle of 'reflexive tolerance' as an ethical mechanism of integration, mediated by the media system, and compensating for the complexity and differentiation of modern societies.