Organized Social Complexity

Organized Social Complexity
Author: Todd R. La Porte
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2015-03-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 140086996X

One striking feature of modern political and social development has been the construction of social systems encompassing more and more groups. The increase in social complexity, the authors of this volume contend, has reached a point where accepted concepts fail to describe social and political phenomena adequately. The studies in this book reevaluate traditional assumptions. Part One defines organized social complexity and discusses the effects of technological change. Part Two assesses national planning and systems analysis, approaches supposed to provide direct control over social matters. Part Three describes methodological aspects and research applications, and Part Four provides retrospective and prospective views of theories on social complexity. Originally published in 1975. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Cultural Complexity

Cultural Complexity
Author: Ulf Hannerz
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 366
Release: 1992
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780231076234

A rich, witty, and accessible introduction to the anthropology of contemporary cultures, Cultural Complexity emphasizes that culture is organized in terms of states, markets, and movements. Hannerz pays special attention to the interplay between the centralizing agencies of culture, such as schools and media, and the decentering diversity of subcultures, and considers the special role of cities as the centers of cultural growth. Hannerz discusses cultural process in small-scale societies, the concept of subcultures, and the economics and politics of culture. Finally, he presents the twentieth-century globalization of culture as a process of cultural diffusion, polycentralism, and local innovation, focusing on periods of intensive cultural productivity in Vienna, Calcutta, and San Francisco.

The Paradigm of Social Complexity

The Paradigm of Social Complexity
Author: Gonzalo Castañeda
Publisher: CEEY
Total Pages: 1032
Release: 2020-08-04
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 607803653X

With the recent developments in computing technologies and the thriving research scene in Complexity Science, economists and other social scientists have become aware of a more flexible and promising alternative for modelling socioeconomic systems; one that, in contrast with neoclassical economics, advocates for the realism of the assumptions, the importance of context and culture, the heterogeneity of agents (individuals or organizations), and the bounded rationality of individuals who behave and learn in multifaceted ways in uncertain environments. The book synthesizes an extensive body of work in the field of social complexity and constructs a unifying framework that allows developing concrete applications to important socioeconomic problems. This one-of-a-kind textbook provides a comprehensive panorama for advanced undergraduates and graduate students who want to become familiar with a wide range of issues related to social complexity. It is also a pioneering text that can support professors who wish to learn techniques and produce research in this novel field. Con los desarrollos recientes en las tecnologías de la computación y el floreciente dinamismo de las ciencias de la complejidad, economistas y otros científicos sociales tienen a su alcance una flexible y prometedora alternativa para la modelación de los sistemas socioeconómicos. Esta metodología, en contraste con la economía neoclásica, aboga por el realismo de los supuestos, la importancia del contexto y la cultura, la heterogeneidad de los agentes (individuos y organizaciones), y la racionalidad acotada de las personas que se comportan y aprenden de maneras muy diversas en entorno con incertidumbre. El libro sintetiza la extensa literatura que existe sobre la complejidad social, y construye un enfoque unificador que permite elaborar aplicaciones concretas con las que abordar importantes problemas socioeconómicos. Se trata de un texto singular dado que presenta un panorama comprensivo del campo de estudio, por lo que puede resultar de sumo interés para estudiante de licenciatura avanzados, y alumnos de posgrado que desean adentrarse en el tema. Asimismo, se trata de un texto pionero de gran utilidad para profesores y analistas interesados en aprender algunas de las técnicas del paradigma de la complejidad social para, de esta forma, aplicarlas en sus tareas de investigación.

The Edge of Organization

The Edge of Organization
Author: Russ Marion
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 375
Release: 1999-01-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1452263760

What Newton′s Principia was to his natural science colleagues, Russ Marion′s The Edge of Organization is to today′s social scientists. This book clearly elucidates the arrival of the social sciences at the end of the alley of modernism but then presents us with the tools and ideas to climb out of a dead end, rise above old limitations, and take flight for new horizons bright with promise for advancing both theory and praxis. . . . For social scientists, it is both the most relevant and most easily apprehended treatment to date of the totality of chaos and complexity theory and technique. --Raymond A. Eve, Editor, Chaos, Complexity, and Sociology The Edge of Organization offers a readable, comprehensive, and integrated overview of the new sciences of chaos and complexity. Author Russ Marion describes formal and social organizations from the perspective of chaos and complexity theories. His multidisciplinary approach will appeal to students and scholars across a wide range of social sciences. This book is generously illustrated and includes comprehensive references plus an annotated bibliography of useful books and articles. The Edge of Organization will appeal to students and professionals in sociology, management/ organization studies, management studies, marketing, political science, public administration, and psychology.

Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology

Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology
Author: Dries Daems
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2021-02-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000344738

Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology turns to complex systems thinking in search of a suitable framework to explore social complexity in Archaeology. Social complexity in archaeology is commonly related to properties of complex societies such as states, as opposed to so-called simple societies such as tribes or chiefdoms. These conceptualisations of complexity are ultimately rooted in Eurocentric perspectives with problematic implications for the field of archaeology. This book provides an in-depth conceptualisation of social complexity as the core concept in archaeological and interdisciplinary studies of the past, integrating approaches from complex systems thinking, archaeological theory, social practice theory, and sustainability and resilience science. The book covers a long-term perspective of social change and stability, tracing the full cycle of complexity trajectories, from emergence and development to collapse, regeneration and transformation of communities and societies. It offers a broad vision on social complexity as a core concept for the present and future development of archaeology. This book is intended to be a valuable resource for students and scholars in the field of archaeology and related disciplines such as history, anthropology, sociology, as well as the natural sciences studying human-environment interactions in the past.

Organize for Complexity

Organize for Complexity
Author: Niels Pflaeging
Publisher: Betacodex Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014-02-20
Genre: Complex organizations
ISBN: 9780991537600

The long-awaited update for work and organizations in the knowledge age

Social Complexity in the Making

Social Complexity in the Making
Author: Donald Tuzin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1134584547

Social Complexity in the Making is a highly accessible ethnography which explains the history and evolution of Ilahita, an Arapesh-speaking village in the interior Sepik region of northeastern New Guinea. This village, unlike others in the region, expanded at an uncharacteristically fast rate more than a century ago and has maintained its large size (more than 1500) and importance until the present day. The fascinating story of how Ilahita became this size and how organizational innovations evolved there to absorb internal pressures for disintegration, bears on a question debated ever since Plato raised it: what does it take for people to live together in harmony? Anthropologist David Tuzin, drawing on more than two years fieldwork in the village, studies the reasons behind this unusual population growth. He discovers the behaviour and policies of the Tambaran, the all-male society which was the back bone of Ilahitan society, and examines the effect of the outside influences such as World War II on the village. This work is a unique example of an anthropological case study which will be widely used amongst undergraduates and academics. It provides an excellent insight into techniques of ethnography and contributes to a deeper understanding of what makes a society evolve (and/or collapse).

Self-Organization in Biological Systems

Self-Organization in Biological Systems
Author: Scott Camazine
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2020-05-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0691212929

The synchronized flashing of fireflies at night. The spiraling patterns of an aggregating slime mold. The anastomosing network of army-ant trails. The coordinated movements of a school of fish. Researchers are finding in such patterns--phenomena that have fascinated naturalists for centuries--a fertile new approach to understanding biological systems: the study of self-organization. This book, a primer on self-organization in biological systems for students and other enthusiasts, introduces readers to the basic concepts and tools for studying self-organization and then examines numerous examples of self-organization in the natural world. Self-organization refers to diverse pattern formation processes in the physical and biological world, from sand grains assembling into rippled dunes to cells combining to create highly structured tissues to individual insects working to create sophisticated societies. What these diverse systems hold in common is the proximate means by which they acquire order and structure. In self-organizing systems, pattern at the global level emerges solely from interactions among lower-level components. Remarkably, even very complex structures result from the iteration of surprisingly simple behaviors performed by individuals relying on only local information. This striking conclusion suggests important lines of inquiry: To what degree is environmental rather than individual complexity responsible for group complexity? To what extent have widely differing organisms adopted similar, convergent strategies of pattern formation? How, specifically, has natural selection determined the rules governing interactions within biological systems? Broad in scope, thorough yet accessible, this book is a self-contained introduction to self-organization and complexity in biology--a field of study at the forefront of life sciences research.

Social Systems

Social Systems
Author: Niklas Luhmann
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 692
Release: 1995
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780804726252

Germany's most prominent social thinker here sets out a contribution to sociology that aims to rework our understanding of meaning and communication. He links social theory to recent theoretical developments in scientific disciplines.