1st Edition
Understanding Society through a Systems Approach Interdisciplinary Perspectives from the Social Sciences
Kim offers an accessible, interdisciplinary textbook using systems theory as a framework to stimulate discussion about how the social sciences develop understanding of society and its evolution. It promotes an integrated view of the social sciences by proposing politics, economics, administration, and community as the core areas of society, and explains their characteristics, how they are moved by what kind of systems, and how they have evolved through their interrelationships.
This book explains how the major areas operate on certain structures and principles, and how they have developed while maintaining certain relationships with each other. The beauty of the entire field of social sciences lies in understanding society and social sciences as a whole and the relationships that intertwines it. It is unique in that it approaches social science from an Eastern perspective, using traditional Eastern thought and social phenomena as examples in its explanations and proposes a methodology for understanding society that’s different to traditional social science textbooks, which use the application of natural science methodology and statistics to understand society.
Designed for a wide range of students in sociology, politics and economics, encouraging interdisciplinary thinking and understanding. It is written with citations of classical writings by social scientists, including Locke, Rousseau, Hobbes, Mill, Marx, Engels, Proudhon, Smith, Weber, Durkheim, Buber, Myrdal, Habermas, Popper, Hayek, Putnam, and others. Through this book, readers can gain panoramic insights into how the works of these social scientists are interconnected.
Part I. Methodology of Social Science. Chapter 1. Target of Social Science: Emergent Property. Chapter 2. Statics vs. Dynamics of social sciences. Chapter 3. Method of Testimony. Chapter 4. Socialization vs. Individualization. Part II. Frame of Social Science. Chapter 5. Four Realms of Society. Chapter 6. Social Sciences of Four Realms. Chapter 7. Institutions of Four Realms. Chapter 8. Public vs. Private Area. Chapter 9. Value vs. Fact. Chapter 10. Competition vs. Corporation. Part III. Mechanism of Social Science. Chapter 11. Resource Allocation vs. Conflict Resolution. Chapter 12. Resource Allocation in Economy: Market Price Adjustment. Chapter 13. Resource Allocation in Administration: Queueing Mechanism. Chapter 14. The Academic Study of Queueing. Chapter 15. Spectrum of Resource Allocation. Chapter 16. Conflict Resolution in Communities: Spatial Separation. Chapter 17. Conflict Resolution in Politics: Temporal Separation. Chapter 18. Spectrum of Conflict Resolution. Part IV. Dynamics of Failure. Chapter 19. Market Failure: Public Goods. Chapter 20. Market Failure: Unethical Market. Chapter 21. Community Failure: Welfare State. Chapter 22. Cause of Community Failure: Commons. Chapter 23. Self-governance by Communities. Chapter 24. Government Failure: Corruption and Privatization. Chapter 25. Government Failure: NPM and NG. Chapter 26. Political Failure: Coup d'état and Non-violent Resistance. Chapter 27. Rule of Error. Chapter 28. Incrementalism vs. Revolutionism. Part V. Futures of Social Sciences. Chapter 29. New Economics: Network Externality. Chapter 30. Revival of Community. Chapter 31. New Relationship between Community and Administration. Chapter 32. New Relationship between Community and Politics. Chapter 33. New Wine in New Wineskin - Visual Thinkers
Biography
Kim Dong-Hwan is a Professor of Public Administration at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea. In his youth, he was involved in information and telecommunication policy in Korea. During his mid-career, he authored several books in Korean, including "System Dynamics" and "Systems Thinking." In his later years, he served as the president of two academic societies: the Korean System Dynamics Society and the Korean Association of Futures Studies.
