Ebook: The Dynamics and Evolution of Social Systems: New Foundations of a Mathematical Sociology

When I started with this book several years ago I originally intended to write an introduction to mathematical systems theory for social scientists. Yet the more I thought about systems theory on the one side and theoretical sociology on the other the more I became convinced that the classical mathematical tools are not very well suited for the problems of sociology. Then I became acquainted with the researches on complex systems by the Santa Fe Institute and in particular with cellular automata, Boolean networks and genetic algorithms. These mathematically very simple but extremely efficient tools are, in my opinion, very well appropriate for modeling social dynamics. Therefore I tried to reformulate several classical problems of theoretical sociology in terms of these formal systems and outline new possibilities for a mathematical sociology which is able to join immediately on the great traditions of theoretical sociology. The result is this book; whether I succeeded with it is of course up to the readers. As the readers will perceive, the book could not have been written by me alone but only by the joint labors of the computer group at the Interdisciplinary Center of Research in Higher Education at the University of Essen. The members of the group, Christina Stoica, Jom Schmidt and Ralph Kier, are named in several subchapters as co-authors. Yet even more important than their contributions to this book were the permanent discussions with them and their patience with my new and very speculative ideas. Many thanks.

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The central topic of this book is the mathematical analysis of social systems, understood in the following rather classical way: social systems consist of social actors who interact according to specific rules of interactions; the dynamics of social systems is then the consequences of these interactions, viz., the self-organization of social systems. According to particular demands of their environment, social systems are able to behave in an adaptive manner, that is they can change their rules of interaction by certain meta rules and thus generate a meta dynamics. It is possible to model and analyse mathematically both dynamics and meta dynamics, using cellular automata and genetic algorithms.
These tools allow social systems theory to be carried through as precisely as the theories of natural systems, a feat that has not previously been possible.
Readership: Researchers and graduate students in the fields of theoretical sociology and social and general systems theory and other interested scientists. No specialised knowledge of mathematics and/or computer science is required.

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The central topic of this book is the mathematical analysis of social systems, understood in the following rather classical way: social systems consist of social actors who interact according to specific rules of interactions; the dynamics of social systems is then the consequences of these interactions, viz., the self-organization of social systems. According to particular demands of their environment, social systems are able to behave in an adaptive manner, that is they can change their rules of interaction by certain meta rules and thus generate a meta dynamics. It is possible to model and analyse mathematically both dynamics and meta dynamics, using cellular automata and genetic algorithms.
These tools allow social systems theory to be carried through as precisely as the theories of natural systems, a feat that has not previously been possible.
Readership: Researchers and graduate students in the fields of theoretical sociology and social and general systems theory and other interested scientists. No specialised knowledge of mathematics and/or computer science is required.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-viii
Introduction: Systems, Theory, Computer, and Sociology....Pages 1-24
State, Evolution, and Complexity: Building Blocks of the Theories of Complex Systems....Pages 25-77
The Dynamics and Evolution of Formal Systems....Pages 79-160
Building Blocks of a Mathematical Sociology....Pages 161-239
Rules, Universals, and Questions of Research — A Conclusion that is Not an Ending....Pages 241-271
Back Matter....Pages 273-292

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The central topic of this book is the mathematical analysis of social systems, understood in the following rather classical way: social systems consist of social actors who interact according to specific rules of interactions; the dynamics of social systems is then the consequences of these interactions, viz., the self-organization of social systems. According to particular demands of their environment, social systems are able to behave in an adaptive manner, that is they can change their rules of interaction by certain meta rules and thus generate a meta dynamics. It is possible to model and analyse mathematically both dynamics and meta dynamics, using cellular automata and genetic algorithms.
These tools allow social systems theory to be carried through as precisely as the theories of natural systems, a feat that has not previously been possible.
Readership: Researchers and graduate students in the fields of theoretical sociology and social and general systems theory and other interested scientists. No specialised knowledge of mathematics and/or computer science is required.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-viii
Introduction: Systems, Theory, Computer, and Sociology....Pages 1-24
State, Evolution, and Complexity: Building Blocks of the Theories of Complex Systems....Pages 25-77
The Dynamics and Evolution of Formal Systems....Pages 79-160
Building Blocks of a Mathematical Sociology....Pages 161-239
Rules, Universals, and Questions of Research — A Conclusion that is Not an Ending....Pages 241-271
Back Matter....Pages 273-292
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