Welcome
We are a general clearinghouse for anyone interested in the social aspects of the study of complex systems. We encourage dialogue, discussion, and the exchange of information, opportunities, resources and contacts.
We hope you will join us in our efforts to connect the study of the complex with those who seek to engage in the pressing issues of the day.
Our motivation
We were founded in the belief that the study of complex systems can have wide reaching implications for future attempts to dream up and bring about a better world. Without professing to know specifically what 'social justice' might mean, and composed of members with varied backgrounds and beliefs, our goal is to find ways to link the study of complex systems with people for varied lines of work - academics, activists, researchers, policy-makers, scientists, educators, journalists, etc. - who feel that the study of complex systems can help give insight into what might produce a better world.
Our title: social justice vs. society
4 July 2008 - 12:03am — sprouffskeDuring our initial planning of this website, we spent a while discussing if we should be called Complex Systems and Social Justice or Complex Systems and Society.
While discussing this, we began to realize that we don't have a good grasp on what social justice means, much less what we mean by it. Or perhaps, everyone else realized this all along and it finally just dawned on me.
Why complex systems?
3 July 2008 - 1:34am — adminWhat are complex systems? How are they different from complicated systems?
While there are many definitions of complex systems, over the past two decades, a general consensus has emerged on how to distinguish complex systems them from those which are merely complicated. A car engine, for example, is complicated, being composed of many interrelated parts which must be machined in very precise ways. That said, an engine is not generally considered 'complex' (in the sense used by 'complex systems researchers') for a variety of reasons.
