Abstract
This article explores the question of what systemic relevance means in times of the pandemic and to what extent "systemic relevance" could become a component of the socio-political semantics of the 21st century. To answer this question, empirical, theoretical, and thought-experimental considerations are being combined. The first part understands systemic relevance as an actor category and examines the term's career and shifting meanings in different discursive contexts. The second part understands systemic relevance as an analytical category and discusses three theoretical perspectives that accompany the establishment of quasi-sociological observational schemes in everyday life and politics. Finally, the third part is devoted to the conceptual challenges for sociology during and after the pandemic. Starting from a conceptual gap in the discourse of systemic relevance, it is argued that we cannot talk meaningfully about systemic relevance without at the same time considering the expected or planned duration with which certain institutions are being closed down or put into minimal operation in critical situations.