Editing Open system (systems theory) (section)

==Social sciences==
In the [[social sciences]] an open system is a process that exchanges material, energy, people, capital and information with its environment. French/Greek philosopher [[Kostas Axelos]] argued that seeing the [[world-systems theory| "world system"]] as inherently open (though unified) would solve many of the problems in the social sciences, including that of [[Praxis intervention |praxis]] (the relation of knowledge to practice), so that various social scientific disciplines would work together rather than create monopolies whereby the world appears only sociological, political, historical, or psychological. Axelos argues that theorizing a closed system contributes to ''making'' it closed, and is thus a conservative approach.<ref>Axelos, K. ([2006] 1984). "The World: Being Becoming Totality," from ''Systematique ouverte'' (Trans. Gerald Moore, Les Editions de Minuit: Paris). ''Environment and Planning D: Society and Space,'' Vol. 24, 643-651.</ref>{{qn|date=June 2021}} The [[Louis Althusser|Althusserian]] concept of [[overdetermination]] (drawing on Sigmund Freud) posits that there are always multiple causes in every event.<ref>Althusser, L. ([2005] 1969). ''For Marx.'' London: Verso Books, Ch. 3: "Contradiction and Overdetermination," [http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/1962/overdetermination.htm].</ref>

[[David Harvey (geographer) |David Harvey]] uses this to argue that when systems such as [[capitalism]] enter a phase of crisis, it can happen through one of a number of elements, such as gender roles, the relation to nature/the environment, or crises in accumulation.<ref>RSA Animate - David Harvey, The Crises of Capitalism: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26o22Y33h9s].</ref> Looking at the crisis in accumulation, Harvey argues that phenomena such as [[foreign direct investment]], [[privatization]] of state-owned resources, and [[accumulation by dispossession]] act as necessary outlets when capital has overaccumulated too much in private hands and cannot circulate effectively in the marketplace. He cites the forcible displacement of Mexican and Indian peasants since the 1970s and the Asian and South-East Asian financial crisis of 1997–8, involving "hedge fund raising" of national currencies, as examples of this.<ref>Harvey, D. (2005). ''The New Imperialism.'' New York: Oxford University Press USA, Ch. 3: "Accumulation by Dispossession," 137-182.
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[[Structural functionalism |Structural functionalists]] such as [[Talcott Parsons]] and neofunctionalists such as [[Niklas Luhmann]] have incorporated system theory to describe society and its components.

The [[sociology of religion]] finds both open and closed systems within the field of [[religion]].<ref>
{{cite book
 | editor1-last = Henderson
 | editor1-first = Ian H.
 | editor2-last = Oegema
 | editor2-first = Gerbern S.
 | editor3-last = Parks Ricker
 | editor3-first = Sara
 | title = The Changing Face of Judaism, Christianity, and Other Greco-Roman Religions in Antiquity
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=G5bXAAAAMAAJ
 | series = Volume 2 of Studien zu den Jüdischen Schriften aus hellenistisch-römischer Zeit
 | year = 2006
 | location = Gütersloh
 | publisher = Gütersloher Verlagshaus
 | publication-date = 2006
 | page = 21
 | isbn = 9783579053615
 | access-date = 11 June 2021
 | quote = The example of setting up new cults demonstrates how widely spread religious competence is in this open system [...].
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Rich
 | first1 = John Martin
 | title = Humanistic Foundations of Education
 | year = 1971
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hP4DAAAAMAAJ
 | publisher = C. A. Jones Publishing Company
 | publication-date = 1971
 | page = 31
 | access-date = 11 June 2021
 | quote = No matter how definitive the evidence produced to the contrary, religionists deny that it in any way falsifies their knowledge-claims. Religion is not an open system.
}}
</ref>