Complexity Theory

Complexity theory is a unifying theory of the natural and social sciences that seeks to describe and account for the properties of complex adaptive systems in the material, biological, and social worlds. These systems are characterised by emergent properties that are irreducible to the sum of the systems' parts. These properties are evident at the systemic level but are not implicit within the elements comprising the system or through the addition of those elements or the relations between them.

Complexity theory is important because it represents the cutting edge of interdisciplinary research and knowledge exchange. The influential Gulbenkian Commission on the [Page 126]Restructuring of the Social Sciences, reporting in 1996 and chaired by world-systems sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein and Nobel prize-winning scientist Ilya Prigogine, recommended the removal of barriers between the “natural” and “social” sciences, advocating instead that analysis should focus upon the dynamics of complex systems where the emphasis would be upon contingency, multiple futures, bifurcation, and choice. In this account, the implications of complexity for social theory are clear. Complexity theory represents a turn away from reductionist explanations of natural and social phenomena and a turn toward a dynamic and holistic approach, where structure is inseparable from process.

Complexity theory is a scientific amalgam rather than a discrete body of knowledge; it unites a range of theoretical advances and research agendas across the natural and social sciences. Proponents of complexity theory lay claim to an increasing number of areas of study, including chaos and catastrophe theory, the theory of small-world networks, the study of artificial life, business management, the mapping of cyberspace, the emergence of a global civil society, and the organisation and patterning of cultural and economic globalisation, to name but a few. All of these are synthesised within the “complexity turn.” However, the origin of complexity theory as a descriptive term and organising concept is most closely associated with the foundation of the Santa Fe Institute in 1984, an unrestricted interdisciplinary research unit set up by fellows from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (best known as the birthplace of the atomic bomb). At the core of the Santa Fe Institute are physicists, mathematicians, computer programmers, and systems analysts who have used the exponential growth of computer processing power as a lens through which to interrogate the dynamics of complex systems, from evolutionary development to virus transmission to the rise and fall of ancient civilizations.

Complex systems of the type studied at Santa Fe and elsewhere are ubiquitous in the natural and social worlds; examples include weather systems, neural networks, languages, business organisations, the Internet, social movements, and any other social formation characterised by the defining features complexity theory has helped to identify. Complex systems exhibit a number of important traits that give rise to emergent properties. A complex system normally comprises a large number of elements that interact with each other and with their environment. These internal and external interactions within the system create feedback loops that are incorporated into a process of change and adaptation. Complex systems therefore evolve over time, necessitating that research into complexity take account of the history of a system, which is at least coresponsible for its current state. Therefore, complexity theory places emphasis upon the diachronic as well as the synchronic aspects of a system.

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