An Introduction to Complexity in Social Science

Bernard Pavard & Julie Dugdale

GRIC-IRIT, Toulouse, France.

pavard@cict.fr    dugdale@irit.fr

1. Definition of Complexity
• Some Properties of Complex Systems
• Non-determinism and non-tractabilty
• Limited functional decomposability
• Distributed nature of information and representation
• Emergence and Self-organisation
2. History of Complex Systems
• Henri Poincaré
• Non-linear systems & neural networks
• Chaos
• Distributed & self-organised systems
• Artificial Life and Agent-based Societies
3. Why Socio Cognitive Systems are Complex
• Example from Air Traffic Control
• Complex systems are open
• Influence of artefacts
4. Why use the Complex Systems Approach to study Social Systems?
• Escaping the drawbacks of analytical approaches
• Concept summary
5. Examples of Complex Social Systems
• Complexity and Business Organisations
• Complexity and the Family System
• Complexity and Economics
• Complexity and Anthropology
• Complexity and Cognition
6. Computer Simulation of Complex Social Systems
• Platforms for Computer Simulation
7. Additional complex systems resources