Over the past two decades, new models and methodologies for understanding processes of change have been developed in the natural sciences, economics and the social sciences: chaos theory and new evolutionary theory, path dependency and neo-institutional economics, the theories of multilinear modernization and historical institutionalism. All six paradigms contain notions of non-linearity, partial determination, and irreversibility.
What can the different disciplines learn from each other in better grasping and explaining complex forms of change in the contemporary natural, economic and social world? How far can models, methodologies and metaphors that have been used successfully in one disciplinary field be "exported" and meaningfully applied in others fields?
Each model is here presented by a main article and then discussed by representatives of the other two disciplinary fields exploring the possibilities of cross-disciplinary borrowing and exchange.This highly integrated volume represents a rare example of a successful cross-disciplinary dialogue, with a stellar list of authors directly addressing each others' contributions.
List of Tables and Figures
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Models, Methodologies, and Metaphors on the Move; A.Wimmer
PART I: CHAOS AND ORDER IN CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate Change; Complexity, Chaos and Order; P.Higgins
Chaos in Social Systems: Assessment and Relevance; L.D.Kiel
Economics, Chaos and Environmental Complexity; H-W.Lorenz
PART II: GENETIC VARIATION IN EVOLUTION
The Topology of the Possible; W.Fontana
Neutrality as a Paradigm of Change; R.Stichweh
Using Evolutionary Analogies in Social Science: Two Case Studies; E.Chattoe
PART III: ECONOMICS OF CONTINUITY; PATH DEPENDENCY
The Grip of History and the Scope for Novelty: Some Results and Open Questions for Path Dependence in Economic Processes; C.Castaldi & G.Dosi
Analyzing Path Dependence: Lessons from the Social Sciences; J.Mahoney
Path Dependence and Historical Contingency in Biology; E.Szathmáry
PART IV: INSTITUTIONAL INERTIAS
The New Institutional Economics: Can it Deliver for Change and Development?; J.B.Nugent
Institutions, Politics and Culture: A Case for 'Old' Institutionalism in the Study of Historical Change; J.Harriss
Exporting Metaphors, Concepts and Methods from the Natural Sciences to the Social Sciences and Vice Versa; R.Gadagkar
PART V: THE MULTILINEAR MODERNIZATION OF SOCIETIES
The Concept of Multiple Modernities in the Framework of a Comparative Evolutionary Perspective; S.N.Eisenstadt
On Modernity and Wellbeing; O.Stark
Multiplicity in Non-Linear Systems; S.Sinha
PART VI: CONSTELLATIONS OF CONTINGENCY: POLITICAL HISTORY
Historical-Institutionalism in Political Science and the Problem of Change; E.M.Immergut
Social Science and History: How Predictable is Political Behaviour? R.Congleton
Reconstructing Change in Historical Systems: Are There Commonalities Between Evolutionary Biology and the Humanities?; J.Cracraft
Conclusion: History, Uncertainty, and Disciplinary Difference. Concluding Observations by a Social Scientist; R.Kössler
ANDREAS WIMMER is Professor of Sociology at UCLA, Los Angeles, USA. He was previously founding director of the Swiss Forum for Migration Studies and of the Centre for Development Research of the University of Bonn, Germany. Major publications include Transformationen (1995), Nationalist Exclusion and Ethnic Conflict (2002) and Facing Ethnic Conflict (2002).
REINHART KÖSSLER is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Münster, Germany.
Description
Over the past two decades, new models and methodologies for understanding processes of change have been developed in the natural sciences, economics and the social sciences: chaos theory and new evolutionary theory, path dependency and neo-institutional economics, the theories of multilinear modernization and historical institutionalism. All six paradigms contain notions of non-linearity, partial determination, and irreversibility.
What can the different disciplines learn from each other in better grasping and explaining complex forms of change in the contemporary natural, economic and social world? How far can models, methodologies and metaphors that have been used successfully in one disciplinary field be "exported" and meaningfully applied in others fields?
Each model is here presented by a main article and then discussed by representatives of the other two disciplinary fields exploring the possibilities of cross-disciplinary borrowing and exchange.This highly integrated volume represents a rare example of a successful cross-disciplinary dialogue, with a stellar list of authors directly addressing each others' contributions.
Contents
List of Tables and Figures
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Models, Methodologies, and Metaphors on the Move; A.Wimmer
PART I: CHAOS AND ORDER IN CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate Change; Complexity, Chaos and Order; P.Higgins
Chaos in Social Systems: Assessment and Relevance; L.D.Kiel
Economics, Chaos and Environmental Complexity; H-W.Lorenz
PART II: GENETIC VARIATION IN EVOLUTION
The Topology of the Possible; W.Fontana
Neutrality as a Paradigm of Change; R.Stichweh
Using Evolutionary Analogies in Social Science: Two Case Studies; E.Chattoe
PART III: ECONOMICS OF CONTINUITY; PATH DEPENDENCY
The Grip of History and the Scope for Novelty: Some Results and Open Questions for Path Dependence in Economic Processes; C.Castaldi & G.Dosi
Analyzing Path Dependence: Lessons from the Social Sciences; J.Mahoney
Path Dependence and Historical Contingency in Biology; E.Szathmáry
PART IV: INSTITUTIONAL INERTIAS
The New Institutional Economics: Can it Deliver for Change and Development?; J.B.Nugent
Institutions, Politics and Culture: A Case for 'Old' Institutionalism in the Study of Historical Change; J.Harriss
Exporting Metaphors, Concepts and Methods from the Natural Sciences to the Social Sciences and Vice Versa; R.Gadagkar
PART V: THE MULTILINEAR MODERNIZATION OF SOCIETIES
The Concept of Multiple Modernities in the Framework of a Comparative Evolutionary Perspective; S.N.Eisenstadt
On Modernity and Wellbeing; O.Stark
Multiplicity in Non-Linear Systems; S.Sinha
PART VI: CONSTELLATIONS OF CONTINGENCY: POLITICAL HISTORY
Historical-Institutionalism in Political Science and the Problem of Change; E.M.Immergut
Social Science and History: How Predictable is Political Behaviour? R.Congleton
Reconstructing Change in Historical Systems: Are There Commonalities Between Evolutionary Biology and the Humanities?; J.Cracraft
Conclusion: History, Uncertainty, and Disciplinary Difference. Concluding Observations by a Social Scientist; R.Kössler
Authors
ANDREAS WIMMER is Professor of Sociology at UCLA, Los Angeles, USA. He was previously founding director of the Swiss Forum for Migration Studies and of the Centre for Development Research of the University of Bonn, Germany. Major publications include Transformationen (1995), Nationalist Exclusion and Ethnic Conflict (2002) and Facing Ethnic Conflict (2002).
REINHART KÖSSLER is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Münster, Germany.
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