Social system

About: Social system is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2974 publications have been published within this topic receiving 92395 citations.

Discourse, Dynamics, and Social Change:

Abstract: The Problem of Cultural Dynamics Which aspects of social and cultural change are in principle predictable and which are not? How can we usefully model the dynamics of such complex systems as human communities? What is the role of discourse, and of culturally and historically specific semiotic formations generally, in co-determining the processes of social change? How are discursive, semiotic practices and material, ecosystem processes inextricably linked in the dynamics of social systems?

Stochastic Evolving Differential Games Toward a Systems Theory of Behavioral Social Dynamics

Abstract: This paper proposes a systems approach to social sciences based on mathematical framework derived from a generalization of the mathematical kinetic theory and on theoretical tools of game theory. Social systems are modeled as a living evolutionary ensemble composed by many individuals, who express specific strategies, cooperate, compete and might aggregate into groups which pursue a common interest. A critical analysis on the complexity features of social system is developed and a differential structure is derived to provide a general framework toward modeling.

Crime in the Social Order of Colonial North India

Abstract: The necessary vocabulary has not yet been created to encompass both the ‘informing spirit’ and ‘whole social order’ of British India. In part, at least, this is because research has generally concentrated on either British or Indian realms of action, rather than the interaction between them. But British colonial rule shaped a distinctive social system in India, one that drew on both British and indigenous values as well as notions of authority. This essay analyzes aspects of this colonial social order by focusing on its legal system, particularly that portion designed to deal with what the British identified as ‘extraordinary’ crime. Indeed, criminal law may be among the most revealing aspects of a social order. For, as Douglas Hay has observed for a similar elaboration of the English legal structure, ‘criminal law is as much concerned with authority as it is with property … the connections between property, power and authority are close and crucial.’

Disease implications of animal social network structure: A synthesis across social systems

Abstract: The disease costs of sociality have largely been understood through the link between group size and transmission. However, infectious disease spread is driven primarily by the social organization of interactions in a group and not its size. We used statistical models to review the social network organization of 47 species, including mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and insects by categorizing each species into one of three social systems, relatively solitary, gregarious and socially hierarchical. Additionally, using computational experiments of infection spread, we determined the disease costs of each social system. We find that relatively solitary species have large variation in number of social partners, that socially hierarchical species are the least clustered in their interactions, and that social networks of gregarious species tend to be the most fragmented. However, these structural differences are primarily driven by weak connections, which suggest that different social systems have evolved unique strategies to organize weak ties. Our synthetic disease experiments reveal that social network organization can mitigate the disease costs of group living for socially hierarchical species when the pathogen is highly transmissible. In contrast, highly transmissible pathogens cause frequent and prolonged epidemic outbreaks in gregarious species. We evaluate the implications of network organization across social systems despite methodological challenges, and our findings offer new perspective on the debate about the disease costs of group living. Additionally, our study demonstrates the potential of meta-analytic methods in social network analysis to test ecological and evolutionary hypotheses on cooperation, group living, communication and resilience to extrinsic pressures.