Unruly Complexity

by Taylor, Peter J.

• ISBN13: 9780226790367
• ISBN10: 0226790363
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Ambitiously identifying fresh issues in the study of complex systems, Peter J. Taylor, in a model of interdisciplinary exploration, makes these concerns accessible to scholars in the fields of ecology, environmental science, and science studies. Unruly Complexity explores concepts used to deal with complexity in three realms: ecology and socio-environmental change; the collective constitution of knowledge; and the interpretations of science as they influence subsequent research.For each realm Taylor shows that unruly complexity-situations that lack definite boundaries, where what goes on "outside" continually restructures what is "inside," and where diverse processes come together to produce change-should not be suppressed by partitioning complexity into well-bounded systems that can be studied or managed from an outside vantage point. Using case studies from Australia, North America, and Africa, he encourages readers to be troubled by conventional boundaries-especially between science and the interpretation of science-and to reflect more self-consciously on the conceptual and practical choices researchers make.

Author Biography

Peter J. Taylor is associate professor and director of the Programs in Science, Technology & Values and Critical & Creative Thinking at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where he teaches environmental studies, science studies, and reflective practice.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Prologue	xiii
PART I MODELING ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY	1	(46)
Chapter 1 Problems of Boundedness in Modeling Ecological Systems	3	(30)
A. The Construction of Complexity	3	(14)
B. The Hidden Complexity of Simple Models	17	(16)
Chapter 2 Open Sites in Model Building	33	(14)
PART II INTERPRETING ECOLOGICAL MODELERS IN THEIR COMPLEX SOCIAL CONTEXT	47	(88)
Chapter 3 Metaphors and Allegory in the Origins of Systems Ecology	49	(44)
A. Social-Personal-Scientific Correlations in the Work of H.T. Odum: A First Reading	49	(30)
B. Another Look: Diagrams and Physical Analogies	79	(14)
Chapter 4 Reconstructing Heterogeneous Webs in Socio-Environmental Research	93	(42)
A. The Simulated Future of a Salt-Affected Agricultural Region	94	(12)
B. An Intersection of Domains of Action that Include MIT USAID, System Dynamics Modelers, and Nomadic Pastoralists	106	(29)
PART III ENGAGING REFLEXIVELY WITHIN ECOLOGICAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND SOCIAL COMPLEXITY	135	(68)
Chapter 5 Reflecting on Researchers' Diverse Resources	137	(30)
A. Further Intersections that Affect Researchers and Interpreters Extending Their Webs	137	(11)
B. Workshops in which Ecologists Map Their Webs of Knowledge-Making	148	(8)
C. Two Terms that Help Researchers Conceptualize More Complexity	156	(11)
Chapter 6 Reasoned Understandings and Social Change in Research on Common Resources: Introducing a Framework to Keep Tensions Active, Productive, and Ever-Present	167	(36)
A. Researchers Conduct a Dialogue, Involving Concepts and Evidence, with the Situations Studied	168	(13)
B. Socially Situated Researchers Interact with Other Social Agents to Establish What Counts as Knowledge	181	(8)
C. Researchers Pursue Social Change by Addressing Self-Consciously the Complexities of the Situations They Study and Their Own Social Situatedness	189	(14)
Epilogue: Three Stories	203	(12)
A. Participation	204	(3)
B. Flexible Engagement	207	(3)
C. Open Questions	210	(5)
Summary of Themes and Questions Opened Up	215	(8)
Glossary	223	(6)
Notes	229	(26)
References	255	(28)
Index	283