Social Sustainability, Past and Future: Undoing Unintended Consequences for the Earth’s Survival

Cover
Half-title
Series information
Title page
Copyright information
Dedication
Contents
Preface
Part I
	1 How This Book Came About, What It Is, and What It Is Not
		Introduction
		Stepping Stones
		The Book: What It Is and What It Is Not
		Notes
	2 Defining the Challenge
		Background
		Six Fundamental Points
		Note
	3 Science and Society
		Introduction
		The Great Wall of Dualism
		Rationalism and Empiricism
		The Royal Society and the Academies
		The Emergence of the Life Sciences and Ecology
		The Founding of the Modern Universities and the Emergence of Disciplines
		The Instrumentalization of Science
		Regaining Trust
		Note
	4 Transdisciplinary For and Against
		Introduction
		Interdisciplinarity
		Multidisciplinarity Results in a Bee's Eye View
		Transdisciplinarity, Intellectual Fusion, and Linking Science and Practice
		Barriers to Practicing Transdisciplinary Science
		Competencies for Transdisciplinary Research
	5 The Importance of a Long-Term Perspective
		Looking Far Back into the Past
		The Importance of Slow Dynamics
		We Need to Know the Healthy State of Our Planet
		The Importance of Second-Order Change
		The Accumulation of Unintended Consequences
		Summary
		Note
	6 Looking Forward to the Future
		Introduction
		Past Perspectives on the Future
		Analogue and Evolutionary Approaches to Understanding Past and Future
		Ex Post vs. Ex Ante Perspectives
		The Role of Modeling
		Why Model?
		Support Models and Process Models
		Challenges to Integrated Modeling of Socioenvironmental Dynamics
		Scenario Building
	7 The Role of the Complex (Adaptive) Systems Approach
		Introduction
		Systems Science
		Complex Systems
		The Flow Is the Structure
		Structural Transformation
		History and Unpredictability
		Chaotic Dynamics and Emergent Behavior
		Diversity and Self-Reinforcing Mechanisms
		Focus on Relations and Networks
		Deterministic Chaos
		Attractors
		Multi-Scalarity
		Occam's Razor
		Some Epistemological Implications
		Note
Part II
	8 An Outline of Human Socioenvironmental Coevolution
		Introduction
		Human Information Processing Is at the Core
		The Biological Evolution of the Human Brain
		The Innovation Explosion: Mastering Matter and Learning How to Put the Brain to Use
		The First Villages, Agriculture and Herding
		The First Towns
		The First Empires
		The Roman Republic and Empire
		Conclusion
		Notes
	9 Social Systems as Self-Organizing, Dissipative Information-Flow Structures
		Introduction
		Social Systems as Dissipative Structures
		Perception, Cognition, and Learning
		Communication: The Spread of Knowledge
		Social Systems as Open Systems
		Transitions in Social Systems as Dissipative Structures
		Conclusion
		Notes
	10 Solutions Always Cause Problems
		Introduction
		The Pre- and Proto-History of the Rhine Delta
		The Middle Ages: Keeping the Land Dry Leads to the Hoogheemraadschap Rijnland
		The Early Modern Period: Land Is Turned into Water
		The 'Golden Era': Water Is Again Transformed into Land
		Regaining Lost Ground
		The Aftermath
		Summary and Conclusion
		Note
	11 Transitions in the Organization of Human Societies
		Introduction
		Information Processing and Social Control
			Processing under Universal Control
			Processing under Partial Control
			Processing without Central Control
		Phase Transitions in the Organization of Communication
		Modes of Communication in Early Societies
		Hierarchical, Distributed, and Heterarchical Systems
		Information Diffusion in Complex Hierarchical and Distributed Systems
			Complex Hierarchies
			Distributed Systems
			Instability and Differentiation
			Heterarchical Systems
		Conclusion
		Appendix A
			Ultradiffusion in Complex Hierarchies
			Hierarchy Structure and Interference in Communications
				Distributed Information Processing
			Notes
	12 Novelty, Invention, Change
		Introduction
		Technology as ''Tools and Ways to Do Things''
		Objects and Ideas
		The Presence and Absence of Change
		Perspectives on Invention
		Invention in Economics
			Schumpeter's Focus on the Effects of (Exogenous) Technological Change
			Usher's Cumulative Recombination Synthesis
			Rosenberg and the Drivers of Technological Convergence
			Arthur: The Observer's Perspective
			Lane and Maxfield: The Innovator's Perspective
		Open Questions
		The Inventor and the Context: Niche Construction
		Creation, Perception, Cognition, and Category Identification
		How Are Technical Traditions Anchored?
		The Locus of Invention
		Notes
	13 An Illustration of the Invention Process and Its Implications for Societal Information Processing
		Introduction
		The Niche in which the Potter Operates
		Challenges Limit Products
		Comparing Two Pottery-Making Traditions in This Light
		Using the Paddle and Anvil on Negros Oriental, Philippines
			Comparison
		Mold-Shaping in Michoacán, Mexico
			Comparison
		Some Lessons
		The Role of Artifacts and Technology in Society
		Notes
	14 Modeling the Dynamics of Socioenvironmental Transitions
		Introduction
		Second-Order Dynamics
		Mobile and Early Sedentary Societies
		The Emergence of Hierarchies
		The First Bifurcation
		The Second Bifurcation
		The Third Bifurcation
		The Fourth Bifurcation
		Summary and Conclusion
		Appendix B
			Modeling Urban–Rural Interaction
			Modeling Rural–Urban Interaction in a Regional System
			Modeling Instabilities in Inter-Regional Trade
			Conclusion
			Notes
Part III
	15 The Rise of the West as a Globally Powered Flow Structure
		Introduction
		The Rise of Western Europe 600–1900
			The Dark Ages
			The First Stirrings: 1000–1200
			The Renaissance: 1200–1400
			The Birth of the Modern World System: 1400–1600
			The Territorial States and the Trading Empires: 1600–1800
			The Industrial Revolution and its Aftermath: 1750–2000
			Summary
		The Changing Roles of Government and Business
		Crises of the Twentieth Century
		Conclusion
		Notes
	16 Are We Reaching a Global Societal ''Tipping Point''?
		The Present Conundrum
			The Environment
			Global Demography and Health
			Aging
			Global Migration
			Food (In-)Security
			Fossil Energy
			Finance
			Trade, Protectionism, and Investment Flows
			Debt
			Aging Populations, Productivity, Savings, Debt, and Pension Systems
			Innovation and Societal Coherence
			Wealth Discrepancy
			Urbanization
			Globalization
			Summary
		A Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective on ''Crises''
		Accumulation of Unexpected Consequences
		Notes
	17 Not an Ordinary Tipping Point
		Introduction
		The Acceleration of Invention and Innovation
		The Acceleration in Information Processing
		The Information Explosion
		Changing Relationships between Society and Space
		The Impact of ICT on Time and Its Societal Management
		Exploding Connectivity among Tools for Thought and Action
		Reduction of Control over Information Processing
		Blurring the Boundary between Information and Noise
		A Society's Value Space Determines Signals and Noise
		The Dynamics of Value Spaces
		Wealth as the Predominant Global Metric
		Our Western Value Space seems to Be Reaching a Boundary
		Note
	18 Our Fragmenting World
		Introduction
		The Race of the Red Queen
		The Growing Dissolution of Our Global Governance System
		The Spectacularization of Experience
		Democracy under Pressure
		The Deconstruction of Communities
		The Transformation of Globalization
		The Emergence of the Developing World
		Big Data and Individuation
		Automation and Artificial Intelligence
		From Production to Distribution
		Our Perception of the World
		How These Trends Are Developing
		Conclusion
		Notes
	19 Is There a Way Out?
		Introduction
		Individuals must Reengage in the Management of our Society
		Designing a Plausible and Desirable Future
		The Role of Narratives
		Reconstructing Communities
		The Future Role and Management of Cities
		Dealing with the Acceleration in Information Processing
		Our Role as Scientists in the Community
		Notes
	20 ''Green Growth''?
		Introduction
		Steady-State Economics
		Sustainable Development Goals
		Toward a Mindset Change
		Pluri-Polarity
		Possible Future Roles for ICT
		The New World: How Might the ICT Revolution Impact on Society?
			Emergence and Authority
			Pull and Push
			Compasses and Maps
			Risk and Safety
			Disobedience and Compliance
			Practice and Theory
			Diversity and Ability
			Resilience and Strength
			Systems and Objects
		Conclusion
		Notes
	21 Conclusion
		What Is the Message Thus Far?
		What Are the Chances of Success?
		Breaking the Fundamental Feedback Loop of Coevolution
		Decentralization, Disruption, and Chaos
Bibliography
Index