The definition of heterarchy

The definition of heterarchy varies only slightly depending on the scientific discipline and application. For mathematician and computer scientist Douglas Hofstadter,1 it is a system in which there is no “highest level.” For sociologist David Stark,2 it’s “an emergent organizational form with distinctive network properties… and multiple organizing principles.” Social theorist Kyriakos Kontopoulos3 defines it as “a partially ordered level structure implicating a rampant interactional complexity.” In anthropology and archaeology, a general-purpose definition suits a variety of contexts: the relation of elements to one another when they are unranked, or when they possess the potential for being ranked in different ways, depending on systemic requirements.4 These definitions offer an arena for examining diversity and change in systems, organizations, and structures. สล็อต เว็บตรง