Global Complexity (Paperback)

~ (Author) "It increasingly seems that we are living through some extraordinary times involving massive changes to the very fabric of normal economic, political and social life..." (more)
Key Phrases: global fluid, global complexity, mediated power, Los Angeles, Nelson Mandela, South Africa (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Urry offers a rewarding look at the ways in which complexity theory can be applied to the theorization of globalization. It brings together a large number of different foci and teases out their interconnections. The author's willingness to corral such a large array of topics comprises the key strength of this volume...this book is highly recommended for anyone interested in a new direction on the sociology, political science, geography, or economics of globalization.'

Steven M. Manson, University of Minnesota, Progress in Human Geography

"This is a fascinating analysis of the non-linear relationships underlying global complexity. By carefully using the metaphors, concepts and models of complexity theory, Urry avoids the trap of oversimplification and shows us many insights that are likely to stimulate and shape future research in this largely unexplored field."

Fritjof Capra, author of The Web of Life and The Hidden Connections

"John Urry provides a remarkably fluent account of the complexities of the fluid world in which we now find ourselves. And in the process of understanding the world as process, he lays down a challenge to all social scientists to rework their traditional intellectual boundaries. Inspiring."

Nigel Thrift, Bristol University

"This is a short book with a large and compelling agenda ... [it] paints a unique picture of the current state of the world."

American Journal of Sociology

Product Description

Global Complexity is a path-breaking book, which examines how the ideas of chaos and complexity can help us to analyse global processes. Urry argues that there are major advantages in thinking about global processes in this way. The idea of complexity emphasizes that systems are balanced between order and chaos, that a system does not necessarily move towards equilibrium and that events are both unpredictable and irreversible in their effects. Hence specific events can have unexpected effects, often distant in time and space from where they occurred.


This book combines new theory with many illustrations of how global processes operate. Urry distinguishes between 'global networks' and 'global fluids', and shows how forms of global emergence develop from the complex relationships between these networks and fluids. He draws out the implications of global complexity for our understanding of social order and argues that complexity requires us to reformulate the main categories of sociology and to reject any globalization thesis that is over-unified, dominant and unambiguous in its effects. Global systems are always 'on the edge of chaos'.


This book will be of particular interest to students and scholars of sociology, politics, geography and economics and to and to all those concerned with rethinking the nature of globalization.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Polity (January 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745628184
• ISBN-13: 978-0745628189
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #531,636 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to the Future, March 23, 2005

By	Zen Nataraj - See all my reviews

John Urry founded the Center for Mobility Research (Sociology, Lancaster University, UK). He is a brilliant sociologist with many important contributions in the fields of social change, postmodernity, capitalism, tourism, and more recently globalization. "Global Complexity" reports his latter incursions in new ways of conceptualizing emerging social phenomena in the wake of globalization.

The book is an abridged version of his tougher "Sociology Beyond Societies", and aims at a wider readership (e.g., see the funky fractal cover). Urry points out that the concept of "network" has been overused and is not enough for understanding globalized phenomena. Globalization, he argues, is much more than the network model can account for. It is a complex reality that is fluid, contingent, reflexive and pervaded by unequal power relations.

An adequate conceptual framework is therefore necessary. Urry proposes a complementary notion of "global fluids" both as an emerging type of network and as an analytical category: the neo-machine is not mechanic but plastic (see, for example, movies like "Terminator 3").

More importantly, Urry is the first social scientist to seriously consider the "complexity paradigm" in the scope of social sciences. Complexity paradigm originated in advanced math and physics, and was popularized by Fritjof Capra in the 1980s. Urry asks to what extent can quantum physics contribute to the sociology of globalization.

"Global Complexity" is a short book with a summary taste. It may be enough for most readers, but those who enjoy bulkier theoretical discussions will prefer "Sociology Beyond Societies." In any case, do not miss out what John Urry has to say about globalization! Welcome to the future...

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great complex piece of work, October 19, 2004

By	zayco - See all my reviews

This book, althought slightly informal at times (not in the sense that the work is not formal but rather is lacking appropriate information) is a great book to own if one wants to understand globalisation, and the information age.

it touches on various appropriate topics such as the extremely rapid rate that the global spheres of todays society are changing from a human run world to a machine and technological run world.

read this if you liked or read these titles if you like this:
- Critique of Information. Scott Lash
- Archaeology of Knowledge. Michael Foucault.

overall it is a pretty difficult read but amazing to even comprehend certain topics he brings up in the chapters of this book.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a PhD dissertation, February 4, 2003

By	"krisangle" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

Urry seemed to condense what should have been 600 pages into 150. And they were some of the hardest 150 pages I've read. Complexity theory is a fascinating topic and its application to globalization is definitely relevant. However, I found Urry very difficult to follow and I was left unconvinced. I would strongly suggest reading M. Mitchell Waldrop's book "Complexity" to get a much clearer perspective on the theory.