Control versus Complexity: Approaches to the Carbon Dioxide Problem at IIASA

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

In the 1970s and 1980s the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) hosted several research projects, workshops and conferences in order to discuss the implications of rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the Earth’s atmosphere. A number of distinguished scholars, some of whom later became prominent protagonists within the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and sustainability communities more generally, participated in these debates. Since those at IIASA did not engage in obviously related fields such as geophysics or climatology, there is a need to explain how, and via which contexts the issue entered the institute’s agenda. This article examines this historical context and contrasts two competing paradigms that emerged at IIASA in order to assess and respond to the carbon dioxide question: The first approach was related to the organisation’s research projects on the future of energy systems, which drew on physics, engineering, economics and applied system dynamical modeling; the second approach drew earlier research into ecological management and complex dynamical systems theory, and argued for the use of multiple methods to assess the carbon dioxide question. The first approach invoked ideas of techno-economical control mechanisms, the second resulted in a more embedded framing of climate change as one of a larger complex of issues relating to sustainable development. Based on resources from IIASA’s research repositories and institutional archive, this study retraces these competing discourse framings and outlines the specific research and modeling strategies, policies, and cultural and technological imaginaries related to them.
Original languageEnglish
JournalBerichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte
Volume40
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)140-159
Number of pages20
ISSN0170-6233
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 06.2017

Bibliographical note

Special Issue: Trading Zones of Climate Change

DOI

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Challenges and boundaries in implementing social return on investment
  2. Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases
  3. Should learners use their hands for learning? Results from an eye-tracking study
  4. Is sensitivity for the complexity of mathematics teaching measurable?
  5. Introduction Mobile Digital Practices. Situating People, Things, and Data
  6. Visualization of the Plasma Frequency by means of a Particle Simulation using a Normalized Periodic Model
  7. Computational modeling of amorphous polymers
  8. Early Detection of Faillure in Conveyor Chain Systems by Wireless Sensor Node
  9. Formative Perspectives on the Relation Between CSR Communication and CSR Practices
  10. TARGET SETTING FOR OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS - STUDY CASE -
  11. From Knowledge to Application
  12. Neural correlates of the enactment effect in the brain
  13. Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases
  14. Competing Vegetation Structure Indices for Estimating Spatial Constrains in Carabid Abundance Patterns in Chinese Grasslands Reveal Complex Scale and Habitat Patterns
  15. Spaces for challenging experiences, indeterminacy, and experimentation
  16. Mapping Khulan habitats - a GIS based approach.
  17. Commitment to grand challenges in fluid forms of organizing
  18. Soft Optimal Computing Methods to Identify Surface Roughness in Manufacturing Using a Monotonic Regressor
  19. A Review of the Application of Machine Learning and Data Mining Approaches in Continuum Materials Mechanics
  20. Determination of 10 particle-associated multiclass polar and semi-polar pesticides from small streams using accelerated solvent extraction
  21. Training effects of two different unstable shoe constructions on postural control in static and dynamic testing situations
  22. Intraspecific trait variation patterns along a precipitation gradient in Mongolian rangelands
  23. Artificial Intelligence in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching
  24. Unraveling Privacy Concerns in Complex Data Ecosystems with Architectural Thinking
  25. A survey of empirical studies using transaction level data on exports and imports
  26. Governing Objects from a Distance
  27. An Outcome-Oriented, Social-Ecological Framework for Assessing Protected Area Effectiveness
  28. Aspect-oriented software development