Complexities (Paperback)

John Law

ISBN 10: 0822328461 / ISBN 13: 9780822328469

Published by Duke University Press, North Carolina, 2002

About this Item

Paperback. While much recent social science and humanities work has been a revolt against simplification, this volume explores the contrast between simplicity and complexity to reveal that this dichotomy, itself, is too simplistic. John Law and Annemarie Mol have gathered a distinguished panel of contributors to offer - particularly within the field of science studies - approaches to a theory of complexity, and at the same time a theoretical introduction to the topic. Indeed, they examine not only ways of relating to complexity but complexity in practice. Individual essays examine complexity from a variety of perspectives and cover an array of case studies and topics that include market behaviour, medical interventions, aeronautical design, the governing of supranational states, ecology, road-building, meteorology, the science of complexity itself, and the psychology of childhood trauma. Other topics include complex wholes (holism) in the sciences, moral complexity in seemingly amoral endeavours, and issues relating to the protection of African elephants.With a focus on such concepts as multiplicity, partial connections, ebbs, and flows, the collection includes narratives from Kenya, Belgium, Great Britain, Papua New Guinea, the Netherlands, and France, written by anthropologists, economists, philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, and scholars of science, technology, and society. Asks what is meant by complexity and how it might be handled within knowledge practices without generating a chaos of further complexities. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780822328469

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Complexities (Paperback)
• Publisher: Duke University Press, North Carolina
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0822328461
• ISBN 13: 9780822328469
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Although much recent social science and humanities work has been a revolt against simplification, this volume explores the contrast between simplicity and complexity to reveal that this dichotomy, itself, is too simplistic. John Law and Annemarie Mol have gathered a distinguished panel of contributors to offer—particularly within the field of science studies—approaches to a theory of complexity, and at the same time a theoretical introduction to the topic. Indeed, they examine not only ways of relating to complexity but complexity in practice.
Individual essays study complexity from a variety of perspectives, addressing market behavior, medical interventions, aeronautical design, the governing of supranational states, ecology, roadbuilding, meteorology, the science of complexity itself, and the psychology of childhood trauma. Other topics include complex wholes (holism) in the sciences, moral complexity in seemingly amoral endeavors, and issues relating to the protection of African elephants. With a focus on such concepts as multiplicity, partial connections, and ebbs and flows, the collection includes narratives from Kenya, Great Britain, Papua New Guinea, the Netherlands, France, and the meetings of the European Commission, written by anthropologists, economists, philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, and scholars of science, technology, and society.

Contributors. Andrew Barry, Steven D. Brown, Michel Callon, Chunglin Kwa, John Law, Nick Lee, Annemarie Mol, Marilyn Strathern, Laurent Thévenot, Charis Thompson

About the Author

John Law is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Science Studies at Lancaster University in England.

Annemarie Mol is Professor of Political Philosophy at Twente University in the Netherlands.