Complexity and Sustainability is a pillar of scholarship. Wells has shown how and why major complexity concepts are so significant to our era, done so with a critical and creative perspective, and provided crucial concepts and strategies for addressing our environmental crises. As a result, this is poised to be a widely cited, major reference. This is a very important book. Timothy F. H. Allen is the co-author of Hierarchy: Perspectives for Ecological Complexity and Towards a Unified Ecology. Complexity and Sustainability is a brilliant, comprehensive synthesis of complex- ity theories in the natural and social sciences. Wells uses complexity concepts to cast new light on pressing issues such as climate change and sustainability. Anyone who wishes to learn cutting-edge approaches to resolving global envir- onmental problems will want to read this thoroughly engaging, lucid, and remark- able book. Carolyn Merchant is the author of The Death of Nature and Reinventing Eden. Complexity theories have emerged across the natural and social sciences in just the last few decades, and the relationships between them are still underexplored. In this timely and significant work, Wells draws on the reflective ideas of a diverse range of thinkers, from biologist Timothy Allen to sociologist and philo- sopher Edgar Morin; yet she moves beyond mere description and categorization to advance an ambitious and compelling synthesis of her own. Perhaps most importantly, she doesn’t shy away from addressing the normative implications of the complexity sciences in the face of global sustainability challenges such as climate change. A valuable metacontribution to many fields! Paul Baer is co-author of The Greenhouse Development Rights Framework and Dead Heat. Complexity and Sustainability Complexity has been presented as a few pieces of gold, when in fact it is a great goldmine. Complexity and Sustainability links complexity theories from through- out the disciplinary spectrum, distils one complex dynamic systems framework, and shows the value of complexity writ large for tackling issues of sustainability, such as climate change, extinctions, and the depletion of natural resources, as well as the twin problems of poverty and overconsumption. Complex dynamic system studies have been studied explicitly in the natural sciences, and mostly only implicitly throughout other fields. Yet much great social theory and philosophy is in fact based in complexity, and important con- cepts like postmodernism, risk, and collapse all stem from complexity. Six key terms are explored: nonlinearity, feedbacks, thresholds, hierarchies, emergence, and self- organization, and dozens of related principles are discussed, with a focus on uncertainty, risk, vulnerability, learning, strategy, resilience, collapse, and sustainability. The book surveys the role of these complexity principles in the natural sciences, social theory, transdisciplinary discourse, philosophy, and ethics, and shows how this complexity framework is a valuable lens for approaching the spectre of climate change and life in the Anthropocene. Problematizing the role of complexity in comprehending “wicked problems” and the potential for “synergistic solutions,” it is argued that a comprehensive study of complexity theories is particularly helpful to addressing highly complex issues of rapid global change. Scholars and scientists throughout the many disci- plines focusing on sustainability will find a refreshing new perspective on the invalu able role of complex thinking and interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and collaborative approaches to transforming today’s social and environmental crises into opportunities. Jennifer Wells is Assistant Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, USA Routledge studies in ecological economics 1 Sustainability Networks Cognitive tools for expert collaboration in social-ecological systems Janne Hukkinen 2 Drivers of Environmental Change in Uplands Aletta Bonn, Tim Allot, Klaus Hubaceck and Jon Stewart 3 Resilience, Reciprocity and Ecological Economics Northwest coast sustainability Ronald L. Trosper 4 Environment and Employment A reconciliation Philip Lawn 5 Philosophical Basics of Ecology and Economy Malte Faber and Reiner Manstetten 6 Carbon Responsibility and Embodied Emissions Theory and measurement João F. D. Rodrigues, Alexandra P. S. Marques and Tiago M. D. Domingos 7 Environmental Social Accounting Matrices Theory and applications Pablo Martínez de Anguita and John E. Wagner 8 Greening the Economy Integrating economics and ecology to make effective change Bob Williams 9 Sustainable Development Capabilities, needs, and well-being Edited by Felix Rauschmayer, Ines Omann and Johannes Frühmann 10 The Planet in 2050 The Lund discourse of the future Edited by Jill Jäger and Sarah Cornell 11 Bioeconomics Edited by Mauro Bonaiuti 12 Socioeconomic and Environmental Impacts on Agriculture in the New Europe Post- Communist transition and accession to the European Union S. Serban Scrieciu 13 Waste and Recycling Theory and empirics Takayoshi Shinkuma and Shusuke Managi 14 Global Ecology and Unequal Exchange Fetishism in a zero-sum world Alf Hornborg 15 The Metabolic Pattern of Societies Where economists fall short Mario Giampietro, Kozo Mayumi and Alevgül H. Sorman 16 Energy Security for the EU in the 21st Century Markets, geopolitics and corridors Edited by José María Marín-Quemada, Javier García-Verdugo and Gonzalo Escribano 17 Hybrid Economic-Environmental Accounts Edited by Valeria Costantini, Massimiliano Mazzanti and Anna Montini 18 Ecology and Power Struggles over land and material resources in the past, present and future Edited by Alf Hornborg, Brett Clark and Kenneth Hermele 19 Economic Theory and Sustainable Development What can we preserve for future generations? Vincent Martinet 20 Paving the Road to Sustainable Transport Governance and innovation in low-carbon vehicles Edited by Måns Nilsson, Karl Hillman, Annika Rickne and Thomas Magnusson 21 Creating a Sustainable Economy An institutional and evolutionary approach to environmental policy Edited by Gerardo Marletto 22 The Economics of Climate Change and the Change of Climate in Economics Kevin Maréchal 23 Environmental Finance and Development Sanja Tišma, Ana Maria Boromisa and Ana Pavičić Kaselj 24 Beyond Reductionism A passion for interdisciplinarity Edited by Katharine Farrell, Tommaso Luzzati and Sybille van den Hove 25 The Business Case for Sustainable Finance Edited by Iveta Cherneva 26 Complexity and Sustainability Jennifer Wells Complexity and Sustainability Jennifer Wells First published 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2013 Jennifer Wells The right of Jennifer Wells to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Wells, Jennifer, 1969– Complexity and sustainability/Jennifer Wells. p. cm. 1. Complexity (Philosophy) 2. Environmentalism. 3. Ecosystems. 4. Social systems. 5. System theory. I. Title. Q175.32.C65W45 2012 003–dc23 2012010806 ISBN: 978-0-415-69577-0 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-09567-6 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear To my parents, Doris J. Wells and William S. Wells. Contents Acknowledgments xii 1 Introduction 1 2 Elucidating complexity theories 19 3 Complexity in the natural sciences 52 4 Complexity in social theory 90 5 Towards transdisciplinarity 122 6 Complexity in philosophy: complexification and the limits to knowledge 154 7 Complexity in ethics 183 8 Earth in the Anthropocene 212 9 Complexity and climate change 232 10 American dreams, ecological nightmares, and new visions 267 11 Complexity and sustainability: wicked problems, Gordian knots, and synergistic solutions 284 12 Conclusion 307 Notes 310 Bibliography 328 Index 338 Acknowledgments It is a pleasure to thank those who have contributed to my work on this book. The breadth of these ideas reflects the richness of the community that has helped to inspire them. The people who have influenced this book are too numerous to list, and I hope that I have not slighted too many. A warm and profound thank you to my dissertation committee members who have inspired me and shared conversations with me on these ideas since the con- ception of the first version of the book: Daniel Andler, Amy Dahan-Dalmedico, Jean-Pierre Dupuy, Catherine Larrere, Pierre Livet, Carolyn Merchant, Richard B. Norgaard, Kate O’Neill, Samuel Scheffler, and David Winickoff. Thank you to the many colleagues and friends who have contributed to the thinking that led to this book, commented on excerpts of it, or discussed these ideas with me: Timothy F. H. Allen, Henri Atlan,