Complexities 2: Various Approaches in the Field of Social and Human Sciences

Awareness of complexity in science and technology dates back to the 1970s. However, all social systems tend to develop structures that become more complex over time, be it within families, tribes, cities, states, or societal and economic organizations.

Complexities 2 covers a broad array of fields, from justice and linguistics to education and organizational management. The aim of this book is to show, without aiming to provide a comprehensive overview, the diversity of approaches and behaviors towards the obstacle of complexity in understanding and achieving human actions.

When we see complexity as the incompleteness of knowledge and the uncertainty of the future, we realize that simplifying is not an adequate approach to complexity, even in the humanities and social sciences. This book explores the relationship between order and disorder in this field of knowledge.

Jean-Pierre Briffaut is a retired professor of Operations Management at the Institut Mines-Télécom, France. A member of the Institut Fredrik Bull, he is in charge of a working group on the complexity of systems of systems.