There has been a rapid expansion of academic interest and publications on polycentricity. In the contemporary world, nearly all governance situations are polycentric, but people are not necessarily used to thinking this way. Governing Complexity provides an updated explanation of the concept of polycentric governance. The editors provide examples of it in contemporary settings involving complex natural resource systems, as well as a critical evaluation of the utility of the concept. With contributions from leading scholars in the field, this book makes the case that polycentric governance arrangements exist and it is possible for polycentric arrangements to perform well, persist for long periods, and adapt. Whether they actually function well, persist, or adapt depends on multiple factors that are reviewed and discussed, both theoretically and with examples from actual cases.
Emergence is often described as the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts: interactions among the components of a system lead to distinctive novel properties. It has been invoked to
This book presents a radical new picture of natural order. The Newtonian idea of a cosmos ruled by universal and exceptionless laws has been superseded; replaced by a conception of nature as a realm o
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Europeans raised a number of questions about the nature of reality and found their answers to be different from those that had satisfied their forebear
This volume contains ten new essays focused on the exploration and articulation of a narrative that considers the notion of order within medieval and modern philosophy--its various kinds (natural, mor
This collection of nine essays reevaluates the demise of Aristotelian hylomorphism in the early modern period when the emerging scientific paradigm was shifting to a sense-as-instrument perspective. T
This edited collection of essays on the conceptual, political and philosophical importance of stillness is positioned within a world that has increasingly come to be understood through the theoretica
How can our societies be stabilized in a crisis? Why can we enjoy and understand Shakespeare? Why are fruitflies uniform? How do omnivorous eating habits aid our survival? What makes the Mona Lisa’s s
How can our societies be stabilized in a crisis?? Why can we enjoy and understand Shakespeare? Why are fruitflies uniform? How?do omnivorous eating habits aid our survival? What makes the Mona Lisa’s
One of the delights of life is the discovery and rediscovery of patterns of order and beauty in nature—designs revealed by slicing through a head of cabbage or an orange, the forms of shells and butte
The ten contributors to this volume explore nonrepresentational patterns from perceptual and cultural perspectives and reveal the ways symmetric relationships in visual, verbal and kinesthetic manifes
The behavior of particular things is dictated by universal laws of nature, proclaim both philosophers and scientists, rather than by any intrinsic quality or internal force of the things themselves. M
"The Moment of Complexity is a profoundly original work. In remarkable and insightful ways, Mark Taylor traces an entirely new way to view the evolution of our culture, detailing how information theor
In Complexity and Postmodernism, Paul Cilliers explores the idea of complexity in the light of contemporary perspectives from philosophy and science. Cilliers offers us a unique approach to understand
Waldenfels (philosophy, Ruhr U., Bochum, Germany) explores the problem of the nature of order after the loss of the idea of a universal or fundamental order. He combines phenomenological methodology w
Examines some implications of the American Indian concept that material and spiritual reality are defined within the symbolic framework of the four seasons and four directions. Suggests that quaternit
An earth scientist explores large-scale patterns that explain the functioning of the universe, combining a range of material from art, architecture, philosophy, mythology, biology, geophysics, and atm
