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Sociocybernetics Complexity, Autopoiesis, and Observation of Social Systems
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Felix Geyer, Johannes van der Zouwen
Book Code: GM1418
ISBN: 0-313-31418-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-31418-6
264 pages, figures, tables
Greenwood Press
Publication: 1/30/2001
List Price: $115.00 (UK Sterling Price: £65.00)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Series Title: Contributions in Sociology
Series Number: 132
Description: 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.
Table of Contents:
  • Preface
  • Introduction to the Main Themes in Sociocybernetics Felix Geyer and Johannes van der Zouwen
  • Growing Social and Complexity
  • Sociophysics and Sociocybernetics:An Essay on the Natural Roots and Limits of Political Control Paris Arnopoulos
  • Mind and Brain: A Dynamic System Model Walter Buckley
  • Management by Complexity:Redundancy and Variety in Organizations Heinrich Ahlemeyer
  • The Emergence of Societal Information Robert Artigiani
  • On the Interpretation of Social Subsystems: A Contemporary Reconstruction of Parsons and Luhman Michael Rempel
  • Autopoiesis
  • Information, Meaning and Communication: An Autopoietic Approach John Mingers
  • Are Firms Autopoietic Systems? Lucio Biggiero
  • The Autopoiesis of Social Systems: An Aristotelian Interpretation Colin Dougall
  • Autopoiesis and Governmance: Societal Steering and Control in Democratic Societies John H. Little
  • Observation of Social Systems
  • Implications of Autopoiesis and Cognitive Mapping for a Methodology of Comparative Cross-Cultural Research Bernd Hornung and Charo Hornung
  • Social Differentiation as the Unfolding of Dimensions of Social Systems Jürgen Klüver and Jörn Schmidt
  • The Dynamics of Educational Expansion: A Simulation Model Cor van Dijkum, Niek Lam, and Harry B.G. Ganzeboom
  • Towards a Methodology for the Empirical Testing of Complex Social Cybernetic Models Johannes van der Zouwen and Cor van Dijkum
LC Card Number: 00-058713
LCC Class: HM701
Dewey Class: 301
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