On the interest of a relational approach in complex systems modelization
The foundation of sociology rests on postulates which have, historically, been the source of endless quarrels and which have come to constitute limits to the very development of the discipline. The first of these postulates is that human societies are to be studied, to be understood, as either the result of individual situations (methodological holism) or, to the contrary, as that of individuals’ characteristics, choices and actions (methodological individualism). The second premise is that scientific analysis must be devoid of all randomness and unpredictability in the movements that occur within society in order to be able to understand and project ourselves into the future. Contemporary developments in sociology abandon, at least partially, these positions. Many researchers in social sciences adopt a joint methodology (holism and individualism). Some also attempt to introduce temporality (or temporalities) in the analysis in order to account for the inevitable historicity of humankind. This paper aims to offer a “relational” sociological approach, which combines holism and individualism within the historicized models of complex systems that are social systems. It stresses the interest, or better, the necessity of a trialectical relational model for the study of complex systems.