SOCIAL EMERGENCE by R. Keith Sawyer ( 9780521606370 ) - Books & Audio Books at Pickabook.co.uk

Item Details

Title:

SOCIAL EMERGENCE
SOCIETIES AS COMPLEX SYSTEMS

By:

R. Keith Sawyer

Format:

Paperback

List price:

£26.00

Our price:

£22.75

Discount:

12.5% off

You save:

£3.25

ISBN 10:

0521606373

ISBN 13:

9780521606370

Availability:

Usually dispatched within 1-3 weeks.

Delivery rates

Stock:

Currently 0 available

Publisher:

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

1 September, 2005

Pages:

288

Description:

This book argues that societies are complex dynamical systems that can be understood through the concept of emergence.

Synopsis:

Can we understand important social issues by studying individual personalities and decisions? Or are societies somehow more than the people in them? Sociologists have long believed that psychology can't explain what happens when people work together in complex modern societies. In contrast, most psychologists and economists believe that if we have an accurate theory of how individuals make choices and act on them, we can explain pretty much everything about social life. Social Emergence takes a new approach to these longstanding questions. Sawyer argues that societies are complex dynamical systems, and that the best way to resolve these debates is by developing the concept of emergence, focusing on multiple levels of analysis - individuals, interactions, and groups - and with a dynamic focus on how social group phenomena emerge from communication processes among individual members. This book makes a unique contribution not only to complex systems research but also to social theory.

Illustrations:

9 figures

Publication:

Imprint:

Cambridge University Press

Returns:

Returnable

Some other items by this author:

A HUNDRED YEARS OF TEXAS WATERFOWL HUNTING (HB)

CREATIVITY AND DEVELOPMENT (HB)

CREATIVITY AND DEVELOPMENT (PB)

CREATIVITY IN PERFORMANCE (HB)