Hierarchy theory is a means of studying
ecological systems in which the relationship between all of the components is of great complexity. Hierarchy theory focuses on
levels of organization
Biological organization is the organization of complex biological structures and systems that define life using a reductionistic approach. The traditional hierarchy, as detailed below, extends from atoms to biospheres. The higher levels of t ...
and issues of
scale, with a specific focus on the role of the observer in the definition of the system.
Complexity in this context does not refer to an intrinsic property of the system but to the possibility of representing the systems in a plurality of non-equivalent ways depending on the pre-analytical choices of the observer. Instead of analyzing the whole structure, hierarchy theory refers to the analysis of hierarchical levels, and the interactions between them.
See also
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Biological organisation
Biological organization is the organization of complex biological structures and systems that define life using a reductionistic approach. The traditional hierarchy, as detailed below, extends from atoms to biospheres. The higher levels of t ...
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Timothy F. H. Allen
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Deep history
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Big History
Big History is an academic discipline that examines history from the Big Bang to the present day, present. Big History resists specialization and searches for universal patterns or trends. It examines long time frames using a multidisciplinar ...
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Deep time
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Deep ecology
Deep ecology is an environmental philosophy that promotes the inherent worth of all living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs, and argues that modern human societies should be restructured in accordance with such idea ...
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Infrastructure-based development
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World-systems theory
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Structuralist economics
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Dependency theory
Dependency theory is the idea that resources flow from a " periphery" of poor and exploited states to a " core" of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former. A central contention of dependency theory is that poor states ...
References
Further reading
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Hierarchy
Systems ecology
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