In the early writings, trust was strongly bound to the problem of reduction of complexity within an action-theoretical framework. These two elements (action and reduction of complexity) subsequently faded into the background or were displaced by later theoretical developments – as, for instance, in the transition to an emphasis on communication and observation – and the term trust was never fully reworked to reflect these later developments.

XREF: Connects to systems theory and Luhmann's later work on communication and observation, where trust's conceptual foundations were left behind.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 26