BOSSEL - Böcker

In an ever more complex and interrelated world, a better understanding of social systems and of the dynamics of their behavior is of crucial im­ portance. Many of the tools holding promise of potentially significant contributions to the analysis of social systems have been, or are being developed outside of the social sciences proper, mostly the loose collec­ tion of diverse scientific approaches called' systems science' or , systems theory' . The editors - all of whom are involved in social systems analysis - have made an attempt in this volume to pull together several aspects of systems science which appear to them to be of particular relevance to the study of social systems: Control systems, stochastic systems, pattern recog­ nition, fuzzy analysis, simulation, and behavioral models. 29 authors from the disciplines of sociology, social psychology, political science, management science, history, behavioral science, economics, mathematics, engineering, and systems science have contributed to this truly interdis­ ciplinary effort. All of them have made the attempt to write in a manner understandable by the non-specialist. It is hoped that this volume will be of particular usefulness to students in the social sciences. Most of the articles are too short to provide much more than an initial stimulation. We trust that the references provided by the authors will allow deeper penetration into particular areas.

Change is the most pervasive characteristic of our time: technological change affects production, transportation, and living patterns, these in turn cause changes in existing ecological and social systems, these again influence decisions and behavior of the individual, and of the organizational entities at the various levels of the social system. It is these decisions and actions which control further change and with it the future living conditions on our planet. In many domains of our experience - production, consumption, construc­ tion, transportation - we have become accustomed to annual average rates of change of around five percent, or a doubling in 14 years. Yet the social and political problems all around us seem to indicate that individuals as well as social structures are ill-equipped to deal adaptively and construc­ tively with such rates of change - which may locally reach much higher values, such as 25 percent per year, or a doubling every three years. In many, if not most cases, such amounts require qualitatively different responses, or a constant review and adaptation of the normative principles controlling decision and action. Change is never isolated. It is the result of, and it causes, other changes.