This dissertation is a realist intellectual history of systems theory in the second half of the twentieth century. Systems theory can be defined as the study of the informatic patterns that are found within a variety of complex phenomena, both natural and social. The science behind systems theory emerged from wartime engineering projects, and was promoted by major philanthropic organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation. Theoretical concepts from the nascent systems sciences, including the subfields of information science, cybernetics, and systems biology, migrated into social science fields including political theory and economics. The social applications of systems theory were heavily promoted by major figures within both America's counterculture, and America's neoliberal revolution. Systems theory injected strong elements of political thinking and political reasoning into natural and social scientific fields alike. The integration of systems theory into natural science fields such as biology was paired with an expanded understanding of the purposes of science. These purposes ranged from the attempt to capture sophisticated, systemic mechanisms of control within life processes, to the attempt to describe the spontaneous, creative, and free self-organization within living systems. Likewise, in economics and the social sciences, systems theory provided an apt conceptual terminology to imagine human society as either an intricately interwoven system of control and coercion, or as a spontaneously organizing source of human freedom. Systems approaches to economics rejected simplistic descriptions of human motivation and behavior, and emphasized the importance of collective processes that do not follow central direction. While Friedrich Hayek is the most well-known economist to utilize systems theory, other less known figures such as Kevin Kelly and George Gilder played a major role in the development of systems based, informatic approaches to social and economic thought. Hayek is often blamed for the development of speculative, systems approaches to economics that minimize the importance of material reality. Contradicting this consensus, I argue that Kelly and Gilder are better exemplars of this speculative rejection of materiality. I also challenge the dominant consensus within political theory scholarship that argues that systems theory can only be understood as a tool and modality of control. Instead, I show that freedom and control co-exist ambiguously in systems theory discourses, and that the lasting appeal and uptake of systems theory within American culture must be interpreted in this light. / Doctor of Philosophy / Systems theory describes a body of research that sought to represent the world through the language of the system. Systems theory was applied to diverse contexts, including engineering, biology, psychology, social science, and economics. Systems theorists believed that self-organizing forces could be found in many complex systems, both natural and man-made. Systems theory was a method by which the complexity of these processes could be described and understood. Specifically, systems theory relied on the concept of information. Information was the basic component from which any system was built. For systems theorists, however, information was not simply a unit or isolated measurement. Rather, information could also refer to a pattern or the characteristics of a process. Thus, systems theory was about being able to capture and describe repetitive processes found in the world. Systems theorists were interested in understanding how both natural and social processes could self-regulate themselves, maintain their basic integrity, and change over time. Thus, the emergence of order without centralized direction was a central preoccupation of systems theorists. In this dissertation, I argue that systems theory was more than a scientific theory; it was also a form of political reasoning. At times, systems theory was a way to conceptualize forms of systemic control, coercion, and homogenization. At other times, systems theory became a way to conceptualize how participation in spontaneous processes could support diversity and freedom. I show that systems theorists were divided between such portrayals of control and freedom. Furthermore, control and freedom often coexisted in the language, behavior, and political claims of systems theorists.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/119021 |
| Date | 17 May 2024 |
| Creators | Glasson, Hannah Gray |
| Contributors | Political Science, Caraccioli, Mauro J., Daggett, Cara, Patton, Lydia K., Hester, Rebecca, Kovaka, Karen |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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