Observing Complexity
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| Author | : William Rasch |
| Publisher | : U of Minnesota Press |
| Total Pages | : 318 |
| Release | : |
| Genre | : |
| ISBN | : 1452903921 |
The rubric of systems theory brings together conceptual models and approaches in the sciences and social sciences that study complexity. It attempts to provide a coherent means of describing all systems, whether organic or inorganic, and offers a theory of knowledge that can account for the integration of humans in the social, informational, and ecological systems in which we are enmeshed. An introduction to the major concepts and foremost thinkers of systems theory, this book brings systems theory into interaction with the major figures of postmodern theory. The format is multiplex and open -- a rich montage, including interviews, exemplary essays, and staged dialogues. Throughout, the writers' aim is not to solidity theory but to provide a thorough explication and an open-ended exploration of how systems theory can address, in a fresh and productive way, theoretical questions that too often have led to impasses between different schools of postmodern theory.
| Author | : Bob Jessop |
| Publisher | : John Wiley & Sons |
| Total Pages | : 313 |
| Release | : 2013-04-26 |
| Genre | : Political Science |
| ISBN | : 0745657672 |
Bob Jessop presents an up-to-date account of his distinctive approach to the dialectics of structure and strategy in the exercise of state power. While his earlier work critically surveys other state theories, this book focuses on the development of his own strategic-relational approach. It introduces its main sources, outlines its development, applies this approach to four case studies, and sketches a strategic-relational research agenda. Thus the book presents a comprehensive theoretical statement of the approach and guidelines for its application. Key features of the book include: an account of the authors theoretical development; a review of recent developments in state theory and the cultural turn in political economy; critical strategic-relational re-readings of major state theorists Marx on political representation, Gramsci on the spatiality of state power, Poulantzas on the state as a social relation, and the later Foucault on statecraft; applications of the strategic-relational approach to important issues concerning the contemporary state: its gendered selectivity, the future of the national state, the states temporal sovereignty, and the relevance of multi-scalar meta-governance in Europe for the more general future of the state. The book concludes with recommendations for future strategic-relational research in political economy and state theory.
| Author | : Rudolf F. Geyer |
| Publisher | : Bloomsbury Publishing USA |
| Total Pages | : 261 |
| Release | : 2001-01-30 |
| Genre | : Social Science |
| ISBN | : 0313074275 |
In an effort to shed light on recent developments in sociocybernetic research, this volume represents recent and advanced thinking in this rapidly developing field. The authors address the core problems in social science caused by increasing societal complexity and analyze the inadequacy of many of the methodological tools still used for grappling with nonlinear, self-organizing systems. Together, the 18 contributors propose elements of a new methodology based on sociocybernetic principles aimed at describing and explaining the growth of societal complexity, the contribution of autopoiesis of societal subunits to more societal complexity, and the new simulation-based methodology needed to observe complex social systems. This unique volume contributes to a greater understanding of sociocybernetics and its uses as a method for researching modern problems of increasing complexity and interdependence. The first part of the book deals with increasing societal complexity and contains chapters on its overall development, the complexity of brain-environment interaction loops, organizational change, the development of human values, and the increasing interpenetration of societal subsystems. The second part concentrates on a current issue in sociocybernetics: autopoiesis, or self-production. The chapters included in Part II concentrate on embodied cognition, on the applicability of autopoiesis to business firms, on its roots in Aristotelian philosophy, and on the possibility of societal control and steering in democratic societies. Part III, more focused on methodology, discusses the difficulties inherent in observing complex social systems. The chapters deal with the problems of cross-cultural comparative research, simulation of the evolution of social systems, longitudinal simulation of education systems, and the methodological difficulties associated with analyzing the unexpected complexities of mutually interacting nonlinear systems.
| Author | : Paul Cilliers |
| Publisher | : Routledge |
| Total Pages | : 170 |
| Release | : 2002-09-11 |
| Genre | : Philosophy |
| ISBN | : 1134743297 |
In Complexity and Postmodernism, Paul Cilliers explores the idea of complexity in the light of contemporary perspectives from philosophy and science. Cilliers offers us a unique approach to understanding complexity and computational theory by integrating postmodern theory (like that of Derrida and Lyotard) into his discussion. Complexity and Postmodernism is an exciting and an original book that should be read by anyone interested in gaining a fresh understanding of complexity, postmodernism and connectionism.
| Author | : Kees van Kooten Niekerk |
| Publisher | : Taylor & Francis |
| Total Pages | : 181 |
| Release | : 2023-01-06 |
| Genre | : Philosophy |
| ISBN | : 1000888088 |
Originally published in 2004. Thanks to computer simulations science is beginning to understand complex natural processes such as the weather, earthquakes and the evolution of life. The Significance of Complexity deals with the importance of the sciences of complexity - for the humanities and theology. First, three scientists explain the science of complexity and illustrate it with concrete examples. Second, two scholars consider the concept of complexity and possible applications of complexity theory within the humanities, e.g. as a tool to understand the interplay between the artist, the work of art and the user in interactive art. Finally, three theologians ask what can be learned from the science of complexity for a religious understanding of humankind and the world. The Significance of Complexity is a pioneering work exploring the import of a fascinating new branch of science for human self-understanding. It caters for all those who are interested in relating science to the quest for the meaning of life.
| Author | : Harald Atmanspacher |
| Publisher | : Springer Science & Business Media |
| Total Pages | : 418 |
| Release | : 2012-12-06 |
| Genre | : Science |
| ISBN | : 3642486479 |
In our daily lives we conceive of our surroundings as an objectively given reality. The world is perceived through our senses, and ~hese provide us, so we believe, with a faithful image of the world. But occ~ipnally we are forced to realize that our senses deceive us, e. g. , by illusions. For a while it was believed that the sensation of color is directly r~lated to the frequency of light waves, until E. Land (the inventor of the polaroid camera) showed in detailed experiments that our perception of, say, a colored spot depends on the colors of its surrounding. On the other hand, we may experience hallucinations or dreams as real. Quite evidently, the relationship between the "world" and our "brain" is intricate. Another strange problem is the way in which we perceive time or the "Now". Psychophysical experiments tell us that the psychological "Now" is an extended period of time in the sense of physics. The situation was made still more puzzling when, in the nineteen-twenties, Heisenberg and others realized that, by observing processes in the microscopic world of electrons and other elementary particles, we strongly interfere with that world. The outcome of experiments - at least in general - can only be predicted statistically. What is the nature ofthis strange relationship between "object" and "observer"? This is another crucial problem of the inside-outside or endo-exo dichotomy.
| Author | : Rika Preiser |
| Publisher | : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |
| Total Pages | : 294 |
| Release | : 2016-01-15 |
| Genre | : Philosophy |
| ISBN | : 1501502611 |
This book is a collection of all the single authored essays by Paul Cilliers, published between 1990-2011. Being one of few authors who approached the study of complexity from a philosophical perspective, the main themes in these papers explore: - Qualitative characterization of complexity and the normative implications of studying complex adaptive systems, - the philosophical and conceptual similarity to post-structural approaches - how any engagement with complexity leads to a critical engagement with how we do science and design interventions - critical and normative implications for how to engage with complex socio-political concerns in the world. What makes this book unique is that it consolidates a body of work that is distributed over a wide range of academic journals. Although his book "Complexity and Postmodernism" (Routledge, 1998) remains a cornerstone in the field of complexity studies, Cilliers’ journal essays really explore the application of the theoretical concepts in more depth. His ground-breaking ideas conceptualized in these essays have served as a continual source of novelty and inspiration in the process of applying complexity thinking to other fields of study.
| Author | : Erika Cudworth |
| Publisher | : Routledge |
| Total Pages | : 458 |
| Release | : 2017-08-10 |
| Genre | : Political Science |
| ISBN | : 1317041917 |
Posthumanism represents a significant new research direction both for International Relations and the social sciences. It emerges from questions about inter-species relations which challenge dominant perceptions of what it means to be human. Rather than seeing the human species as ‘in nature’ posthumanist thinking considers the species as ‘of nature’. The work of posthumanist thinkers has sought to dispute accepted notions of what it means to be human, raising profound questions about our relations with the rest of nature. The volume commences with an overview of the influence thinkers have had on the development of posthumanist thinking. Key ideas in International Relations are interrogated and reconceptualised and specific case studies are presented with a focus on inter-species relations. The work allows for a consideration of the limits of the posthumanist move and provides space for critics to argue that such an approach opens the discipline up to a biological determinism, and that a focus on inter-human relations should mark the boundaries of the discipline. The essays collected in this volume provide an overview of contributions from posthumanist thinkers with the particular intention of providing a succinct introduction to the area and should appeal to scholars and students in Politics, IR and philosophy.
| Author | : Elisabeth S.C. Berger |
| Publisher | : Springer |
| Total Pages | : 490 |
| Release | : 2016-02-25 |
| Genre | : Business & Economics |
| ISBN | : 3319271083 |
This volume discusses the challenge of dealing with complexity in entrepreneurship, innovation and technology research. Businesses as well as entire economies are increasingly being confronted by widespread complex systems. Fields such as entrepreneurship and innovation cannot ignore this reality, especially with their inherent links to diverse research fields and interdisciplinary methods. However, most methods that allow more detailed analyses of complex problems are either neglected in mainstream research or are, at best, still emerging. Against this backdrop, this book provides a forum for the discussion of emergent and neglected methods in the context of complexity in entrepreneurship, innovation and technology research, and also acts as an inspiration for academics across related disciplines to engage more in complexity research.
| Author | : Toru Takahashi |
| Publisher | : BRILL |
| Total Pages | : 102 |
| Release | : 2023-12-11 |
| Genre | : Social Science |
| ISBN | : 9004690492 |
Exploring the conditions of news reporting in today’s information-flooded society, Observing News and Media in a Complex Society looks into the strands of systems theoretical studies of the mass media, journalism and the empirical studies of inter-media agenda setting. Journalism is increasingly exposed to diverse perception and facing its selectivity observed by the public. Considering this context, this book focuses on the movement of solution-oriented journalism, which seeks a new way to answer the question “what is journalism for?” and invites us to expand our understanding of media’s societal role in the societal process of problem-solving and meaning construction.
