The challenges of applying complexity

.

Chapter 24 in The Atlas of Social Complexity, 2024, pp 349-362 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: One area where the study of social complexity has gained traction is in practical applications. Why is it so that practitioners like to work with concepts and tools from the complexity sciences, and how does it work for them? This chapter answers those questions. We draw from the interviews we did for this Atlas to understand in what ways complexity - as a language and a tool for change - is made to work, and how it is received. Less than conceptual purity, our interviewees talk about the opportunities that the tools and vocabulary of the complexity sciences offer to break away from doing the same old thing over and over again. They look for exciting alternatives. Words and imaginations play an important role, as do theory transfer and translation. The creative modifications in practical situations should feed back into the complexity sciences.

Keywords: Development Studies; Economics and Finance; Environment; Geography; Innovations and Technology; Politics and Public Policy Research Methods; Sociology and Social Policy; Teaching Methods; Urban and Regional Studies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781789909524.00028 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:19387_24

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Darrel McCalla ().