IMAGINE COMPLEXITY - THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE POTENTIAL OF COMPLEX THINKING

Given all the intellectual excitement surrounding the new ideas on com plexity, it is easy to overlook the fact that the apparent simplicity of the past was often more a function of the constraints put on the fr aming of the issue or problem at hand, both conceptually and in policy making, than it was a reflection of any inherent properties. Revisiti ng several case studies helps to illustrate the point that complexity, now or in the past, resides especially in the social relationships wi thin and between institutions and agents. Much current thinking about complexity is moving towards development of ever more sophisticated me thodologies with which to probe complex systems, hence to facilitate t heir management and control. We argue that such methodological elabora tion frequently acts as a direct substitute for institutional developm ent and reflexivity, and we urge instead for exploration of new forms of institutional mediation. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd