Graham Room argues that conventional approaches to the conceptualization and measurement of social and economic change are unsatisfactory. As a result, researchers are ill-equipped to offer policy advice. This book offers a new analytical approach, combining complexity science and institutionalism. It also provides tools for policy makers in turbulent times.

Part 1 is concerned with the conceptualization of socio-economic change. It integrates complexity science and institutionalism into a coherent ontology of social and policy dynamics.

Part 2 is concerned with models and measurement. It combines some of the principal approaches developed in complexity analysis with models and methods drawn from mainstream social and political science.

Part 3 offers empirical applications to public policy: the dynamics of social exclusion; the social dimension of knowledge economies; the current financial and economic crisis. These are supplemented by a toolkit for the practice of 'agile policy making'.

This is a stimulating, provocative and highly original book. It will appeal to academics and students in social and policy studies and to a wide range of scholars in other disciplines where complexity science is already well-developed. It will also be of major interest for decision makers coping with complex and turbulent policy terrains.

Contents:
Preface
1. Introduction
Part I: Concepts
2. The Complexity Paradigm
3. Complex Adaptive Systems
4. The Economy as a Complex Adaptive System
5. Institutional Settings and Architectures
6. Institutional Dynamics
7. The Struggle for Positional Advantage
8. Conceptualising Social Dynamics
Part II: Methods
9. Attractors and Orbits in Dynamic Systems
10. Patterns in Time and Space
11. Connections and Networks
12. Mobility on Social Landscapes
13. Towards a Generic Methodology
Part III: Policies
14. Agile Policy-Making
15. Poverty and Social Exclusion
16. Social Dynamics of the Knowledge Economy
17. Global Turbulence and Crisis Postscript: Tools for Policy-Makers
References
Index

About the Author
Graham Room, Professor of European Social Policy, University of Bath, UK

Reviews
'Theoretical work on complex phenomena is beginning to have a major impact on several disciplines. Graham Room gives a clear summary of many of these insights and shows how this work can help guide public policy.'
--Geoffrey M. Hodgson, University of Hertfordshire, UK

'This is a very important book. Graham Room gives a very detailed, accurate and accessible review of complexity theory as it applies to social policy. It will be of interest to academics who really want to understand the implications of complexity theory for policy making in complex and fast-changing situations and to those undertaking advanced courses in politics, economics and sociology.'
--Jean Boulton, University of Cranfield, UK

Book Information
ISBN 9780857932655
Author Graham Room
Format Paperback
Page Count 392
Imprint Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
Publisher Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd