A Direction of Scientific Systems Approach: World-Systems Analysis and Dynamic Simulation Modeling

The comparative world-systems approach analyzes systems of societies rather than a single society.  Interaction networks in world-systems comprise systems of human societies which are bounded in space and engage in regularized interactions and exchanges.  The evolutionary growth of the connections and intensified linkages through cycles and oscillations has formed increasingly larger and integrated world-systems over time. Structural globalization is thus conceptualized as an elementary trend that prevailed in the last two centuries.  While the world-systems approach explains evolutionary growth of interaction networks over time, it is conscious of historical contingencies as well as spatially and temporarily specific conditions for local polities.  This aspect is compatible with recently developing agent-based social science.  Applying spatial agent-based simulation, the current study engages in examination of historical cases. In particular, this study focused on the formation of large-scale polities and social complexity in East, Central, and West Asia in the middle ages.  By so doing, this study examines the dynamics between local emergent processes, macro-interaction networks, and their impacts on the formation of large-scale polities and social complexity.