Technology and social change: An approach from nonequilibrium systems theory

Abstract

Current theories developed in nonequilibrium thermodynamics and other sciences of complexity can be applied to model societal phenomena without reductionism, as these theories describe how complex nonlinear systems behave in a flow of energy far from equilibrium regardless of the nature of the system and the identity of its components. The latest theories provide insight into how such systems evolve over time, and thus afford continuity for the special theories of system evolution formulated in specific branches of natural and social science. In applying the theories to model societal change, an invariance emerges in the patterns of evolution in nature and in history regarding both the general directionality of evolutionary development and its dynamic mode. Technology when translated in widespread changes in social and society-nature relations destabilizes social systems, with the resulting fluctuations finding new types of dynamic stability through reformed or changed societal institutions. Revolutions in the modem age furnish an especially clear-cut example of societal transformation processes and the wide range of possibilities opened by them for conscious human intervention in determining the outcomes. The new insights of the sciences of complexity call for in-depth empirical research to create fruitful and faithful applications in the sphere of history and society.