Social Structures and Chaos Theory

Up to this point many of the social-scientific discussions of the impact of Chaostheory have dealt with using chaos concepts to refine matters of prediction andcontrol. Chaos theory, however, has far more fundamental consequences which mustalso be considered. The identification of chaotic events arise as consequencesof the attempts to model systems mathematically. For social science this meanswe must not only evaluate the mathematics but also the assumptions underlyingthe systems themselves. This paper attempts to show that such social-structuralconcepts as class, race, gender and ethnicity produce analytic difficulties soserious that the concept of structuralism itself must be reconceptualised tomake it adequate to the demands of Chaos theory. The most compelling mode ofdoing this is through the use of Connectionism. The paper will also attempt toshow this effectively means the successful inclusion of Chaos theory into socialsciences represents both a new paradigm and a new epistemology and not just arefinement to the existing structuralist models. Research using structuralistassumptions may require reconciliation with the new paradigm.