Why write a blog about complexity and science for policy? Because complexity matters for science advice to policy. Complex systems may lead to a situation in which science cannot provide all answers. Complexity refers to situations in which “the whole is different from the sum of its parts”, because of emerging properties at different scales of analysis. This situation is challenging for governance, because providing evidence on “the parts” will lead to different decisions than providing evidence on “the whole”.
What do I mean by complexity?
Complexity is the existence of non-equivalent representations of the same issue, problem or system. Complexity science usually refers to systems as its unit of analysis. Systems indicate a whole made up of components that interact with each other and with the whole. In complex systems, the whole is different than the sum of its parts because interactions lead to emerging properties at the level of the whole. In terms of representations, the whole-part duality means that the representation of the whole is non-equivalent to the representation of the parts.
Representation is a central concept in science. According to Foucault, the Scientific Revolution of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries turned on the transition from the world perceived in terms of similarities and analogies to a world in which knowledge emerged from representation. Science can be understood as the activity of representing the world. By hinging my definition of complexity on representations, I am interested in the epistemic aspect of complexity. That is, how can something be known that has multiple, non-reducible, representations?
How does complexity manifest in science for policy?
Complexity matters for informing policy because in the context of complexity, science cannot give one representation, advice, or option. I encountered this challenge in the first case study I worked on for my PhD: I was studying water governance in Israel, and the different representations of water used to inform policy seemed to talk past each other. On the one hand, I encountered the narrative of water efficiency, which referred to water use in agriculture (the representation of one particular water use, a part), and on the other hand, I encountered the water scarcity narrative through which conservation policies were formulated for the main water bodies of the country (the representation of the ecosystem, the context of the country-whole). These two representations were used to promote and restrict the use of water, albeit in very different policy areas.
What to do about it?
Complexity thus challenges the ability of science to inform policy. I take this point of departure to think about the relationship between science and policy. Is the science-policy interface a matter of one-off interactions in the form of exchange of information? Could the science-policy interface be thought of as a long-term engagement offering opportunities for mutual learning? In the context of complexity, is the role of science to open or close the policy option space? Is there a role for responsibility, ethics and care in the science-policy interface?
These are some of the questions that guide my research. If some of these questions, or related questions, are relevant to your work, let me know in the comments below!
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