Governing Complex Systems
Social Capital for the Anthropocene
Reeks: Earth System Governance
Oran R. Young
- An
- exploration
- of
- the
- need
- for
- innovative
- mechanisms
- of
- governance
- in
- an
- era
- when
- human
- actions
- are
- major
- drivers
- of
- environmental
- change.The
- onset
- of
- the
- Anthropocene,
- an
- era
- in
- which
- human
- actions
- have
- become
- major
- drivers
- of
- change
- on
- a
- planetary
- scale,
- has
- increased
- the
- complexity
- of
- socioecological
- systems.
- Complex
- systems
- pose
- novel
- challenges
- for
- governance
- because
- of
- their
- high
- levels
- of
- connectivity,
- nonlinear
- dynamics,
- directional
- patterns
- of
- change,
- and
- emergent
- properties.
- Meeting
- these
- challenges
- will
- require
- the
- development
- of
- new
- intellectual
- capital.
- In
- this
- book,
- Oran
- Young
- argues
- that
- to
- achieve
- sustainable
- outcomes
- in
- a
- world
- of
- complex
- systems,
- we
- will
- need
- governance
- systems
- that
- are
- simultaneously
- durable
- enough
- to
- be
- effective
- in
- guiding
- behavior
- and
- agile
- enough
- to
- adapt
- to
- rapidly
- changing
- circumstances.While
- some
- insights
- from
- past
- research
- on
- governance
- remain
- valid
- in
- this
- setting,
- Young
- argues
- that
- we
- need
- new
- social
- capital
- to
- supplement
- mainstream
- regulatory
- approaches
- that
- feature
- rule
- making
- with
- an
- emphasis
- on
- compliance
- and
- enforcement.
- He
- explores
- the
- uses
- of
- goal
- setting
- as
- a
- governance
- strategy,
- the
- idea
- of
- principled
- governance,
- and
- the
- role
- of
- what
- is
- often
- called
- good
- governance
- in
- meeting
- the
- challenges
- of
- the
- Anthropocene.
- Drawing
- on
- his
- long
- experience
- operating
- on
- the
- science/policy
- frontier,
- Young
- calls
- for
- more
- effective
- collaboration
- between
- analysts
- and
- practitioners
- in
- creating
- and
- implementing
- governance
- systems
- capable
- of
- producing
- sustainable
- outcomes
- in
- a
- world
- of
- complex systems.
