The complexity frame of reference and action

This chapter examines how the complexity frame of reference is the essential mode for both understanding the world and acting within it in the era of the Capitalocene. It establishes what is meant by calling complexity a ‘theory’ – that is neither a grand social theory nor a Mertonian theory of the middle range but rather a frame of reference which follows Reed and Harvey’s (1992) integration of the scientific ontology of complexity and Bhaskar’s critical realism into complex realism. In this chapter we will first outline what that means and then proceed to draw on a wide range of complexity-oriented philosophical and methodological discussion which resonates with it, particularly the work of Cilliers (1998, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2011) and Morin (2008). We draw on Morin to distinguish between restricted and general complexity and Cilliers to clarify what we mean by boundaries, hierarchy, and structure in complex systems. The chapter concludes with a discussion of what is meant by modelling which bridges forward to the next chapter.

Action (physics) · Classical mechanics · Frame (networking) · Frame of reference · Physics · Reference frame · Telecommunications · Computer Science · Design Education and Practice · Semantic Web and Ontologies

• Multimodal Soundscape Walking

  Open Access•Yecid Ortega•Culture Studies ↔ Critical…•2026

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