Complexity, Institutions, and an 'Agile' Disability Policy

The aims of this article are: 1) to offer a deeper and more theoretically grounded understanding of the dysfunctions of the institutional support system for people with disabilities in Poland; and 2) to propose inspirations for a new, 'agile' disability policy. To this end the author applies concepts from Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems and its more recent interpretations, as well as ideas from so-called complexity theory. It is shown that the dysfunctions of the institutional system can be interpreted as resulting from the system's autopoiesis and insensitivity to the complexity of the environment. Yet, as the system/environment relationship is precarious, the system could be motivated to redefine itself and to implement solutions that would make it more responsive to the environment. It is argued that an agile disability policy, based on the assumption that complexity is a crucial environmental feature, could be a solution to this problem.