Complex
Term
Complex
Idea level
Concept
Definition
Complex describes systems made up of many interconnected parts that interact with and adapt to one another and to their environment—such as trees. Yuen Yuen Ang defines economies as complex rather than complicated, meaning their dynamics are characterized by interdependence, adaptation, and uncertainty, and therefore cannot be understood through models and tools designed for complicated, machine-like objects.
Sources
First conceptual formalization:
Ang, Yuen Yuen. “Adaptive Political Economy: Toward a New Paradigm.” World Politics (2024).
Earlier articulation with empirical demonstration:
Ang, Yuen Yuen. How China Escaped the Poverty Trap (2016), Introduction (pp. 9–11) and Chapter 2 (pp. 48–52).
Complexity paired with decolonization and reflexivity:
Ang, Y.Y. (2026) “AIM (Adaptive, Inclusive, Moral) Political Economy: Introduction and Applications.” Oxford Development Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2026.2622283. [Read]
Genealogy
[Paradigm] AIM (Adaptive, Inclusive, Moral Political Economy)
→ [Pillar] Adaptive Political Economy (APE)
→ [Concept] Complex
→ [Application: Development] Development as co-evolutionary process, starting with repurposing what you have
→ [Application] Directed improvisation
Contrast with
[Paradigm] Industrial–Colonial Paradigm
→ [Pillar] Mechanical thinking (treating societies as machines)
→ [Concept] Complicated
→ [Application: Development] Development as linear process: “growth first” or “good governance first”
→ [Application] Control-oriented policy design (or its false opposite: giving up control)
Quotes
“Social worlds are not complicated—they are almost always complex. Complex systems comprise many moving parts that interact with one another and change together, triggering outcomes that cannot be precisely controlled or predicted in advance. Human bodies are an example of complex systems. Political economies, comprising many players, many institutions, and many interactions, are complex.”
“Just as we don’t always have to kill insects in order to study natural habits, we don’t have to reduce complexity to make sense of complex worlds.”
— Ang, How China Escaped the Poverty Trap (2016), p. 10-11
“Complex systems can evolve and generate uncertainty, that is, possibilities that are beyond the anticipation and planning of agents within the system. Some possibilities are terrible, such as stock market crashes and outbreaks of war. Yet some possibilities are marvelous, such as scientific breakthrough, artistic innovations, and the information revolution that we are currently experiencing. To extinguish uncertainty is to extinguish possibilities, both terrible and marvelous… Once the premises of complicated versus complex are clearly spelled out (Table 2.1), it becomes clear that much of social science analysis is predicated on a complicated world view, with an accompanying focus on control over outcomes rather than influence over processes.”
— Ang, How China Escaped the Poverty Trap (2016), “Directed Improvisation,” p. 51-52
“Complex does not mean complicated, just as trees are not toasters. Complicated things are made of many separate parts that do not adapt to one another or the surrounding environment—machines are good examples. A toaster is a machine that is exactly the sum of its parts… When dealing with machines, processes are linear and outcomes can be controlled. Press a button and a toaster will produce a predictable action… Whereas machines are complicated, systems are complex. A system is made up of interconnected elements that adapt to one another and the environment, for example, a tree… The differences between complicated machines and complex systems are not semantic but have profound implications for the way social scientists understand causality, indeterminacy, human agency, and institutional design (see Table 1).”
— Ang, Adaptive Political Economy (2024)
Concept Constellation
Across Ang’s work, Complex consistently co-appears with the following concepts and analytic themes:
APE as one pillar of AIM: Adaptive, Inclusive, Moral Political Economy
Complex vs. Complicated (trees vs. toasters)
Institutions vs. Meta-Institutions