Realist social theory : the morphogenetic approach
TL;DR: The Morphogenetic Cycle: the basis of the morphogenetic approach 7. Structural and cultural conditioning 8. The morphogenesis of agency 9. Social elaboration.
Abstract: Building on her seminal contribution to social theory in Culture and Agency, in this 1995 book Margaret Archer develops her morphogenetic approach, applying it to the problem of structure and agency. Since structure and agency constitute different levels of stratified social reality, each possesses distinctive emergent properties which are real and causally efficacious but irreducible to one another. The problem, therefore, is shown to be how to link the two rather than conflate them, as has been common theoretical practice. Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach not only rejects methodological individualism and holism, but argues that the debate between them has been replaced by a new one, between elisionary theorising and emergentist theories based on a realist ontology of the social world. The morphogenetic approach is the sociological complement of transcendental realism, and together they provide a basis for non-conflationary theorizing which is also of direct utility to the practising social analyst.
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TL;DR: The Triple Helix of university–industry–government (UIG) relations is elaborated into a systemic model that accounts for interactions among three dimensions to recombine the “Mode 2” thesis of a new production of scientific knowledge and the study of systems of innovation with the neo-classical perspective on the dynamics of the market.
Abstract: The Triple Helix of university–industry–government (UIG) relations is elaborated into a systemic model that accounts for interactions among three dimensions By distinguishing between the respective micro-operations, this model enables us to recombine the “Mode 2” thesis of a new production of scientific knowledge and the study of systems of innovation with the neo-classical perspective on the dynamics of the market The mutual information in three dimensions provides us with an indicator for the self-organization of the resulting network systems The probabilistic entropy in this mutual information can be negative in knowledge-based configurations The knowledge base of an economy can be considered as a second-order interaction effect among interactions at interfaces between institutions and functions in different spheres Proximity enhances the chances for couplings and, therefore, the formation of technological trajectories The next-order regime of the knowledge base, however, can be expected to remain pending as selection pressure
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...If one generalizes this model to the level of a social system, three analytically independent dimensions of an innovation system can be distinguished (Figure 2): (1) the geography which organizes the positions of agents and their aggregates; (2) the economy organizing the exchange relations; and (3) the knowledge content which emerges with reference to either of these dimensions ( Archer, 1995 )....
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01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: In this paper, a critical survey of emergence definitions both from a conceptual and formal standpoint is provided, with particular attention devoted to formal definitions introduced by (Muller 2004) and (Bonabeau & Dessalles, 1997), which are operative in multi-agent frameworks and make sense from both cognitive and social point of view.
Abstract: This chapter provides a critical survey of emergence definitions both from a conceptual and formal standpoint. The notions of downward / backward causation and weak / strong emergence are specially discussed, for application to complex social system with cognitive agents. Particular attention is devoted to the formal definitions introduced by (Muller 2004) and (Bonabeau & Dessalles, 1997), which are operative in multi-agent frameworks and make sense from both cognitive and social point of view. A diagrammatic 4-Quadrant approach, allow us to understanding of complex phenomena along both interior/exterior and individual/collective dimension.
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TL;DR: The complexity of transboundary networks and hierarchies, economic sectors, ethnic and religious ties, civil and cross-border wars, and internally disaggregated and transnationally connected state actors leads to a complex and multidimensional restructuring of the global, the local and the uneven connections in between as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Modern International Relations theory has consistently underestimated the depth of the problem of anarchy in world politics. Contemporary theories of globalisation bring this into bold relief. From this perspective, the complexity of transboundary networks and hierarchies, economic sectors, ethnic and religious ties, civil and cross-border wars, and internally disaggregated and transnationally connected state actors, leads to a complex and multidimensional restructuring of the global, the local and the uneven connections in between. We ought to abandon the idea of ‘high’ and ‘low’ politics, ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ once and for all. This does not remove the problem of anarchy but rather deepens it, involving multidimensional tensions and contradictions variously described as ‘functional differentiation’, ‘multiscalarity’, ‘fragmegration’, disparate ‘landscapes’, the ‘new security dilemma’ and ‘neomedievalism’. Approaching anarchy from the perspective of plural competing claims to authority and power forces ...
41 citations