Climate, Chaos and Collective Behaviour

This book introduces principles of Chaos theory (and Complex Adaptive Systems) to social science, in a lively and elegant way. It applies it to the twin disciplines of mass psychology (under social psychology, mostly in Europe) and collective behavior sociology (mostly in North America) that deal with emergent psychosocial phenomena that lie outside conventional approaches. Each of the eleven chapters begins with a topical ‘case study’ section, on an issue related to climate change and collective behaviour, such as the ‘school strike’ by Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg, the Hollywood movie The Day After Tomorrow, and more. This book aims to show that there are fundamental reasons why many phenomena cannot be easily ‘measured, predicted and controlled’, and thus we need to familiarize ourselves with alternative ways of thinking about them.

“This book takes a case study approach towards chaos, complexity, and uncertainty that exists in the world, and vividly describes the internal and external actions of groups. Van Ginneken … presents a rather enjoyable read … Collective behavior and public opinion has the potential to appeal to a wide audience. Its readability is appropriate for both professors and students, and even though it was created in Holland, I, as a reader in the United States, easily connected with the discussion. The book would be an excellent text to use in communication courses” (Anthony E. Adams, American Communication Journal, USA)

“Van Ginneken provides a new conceptual framework … The result is a stimulating interdisciplinary journey that challenges underlying theories … [Van] Ginneken writes clearly, and the text is accessible to diverse audiences … This book is a challenging companion to well-regarded studies … Summing up: Recommended.” (R.A. Logan, University of Missouri – Columbia, USA)

“The author develops alternative explanations for those dynamics in public opinion … This book intends to give academics and practitioners in the field of public opinion and communication a new and refreshing insight. The descriptions of the case studies also make the book very readable for the general reading public.” (International Journal of Public Opinion Research)

“Most readable book …Van Ginneken had adopted a creative strategy to introduce the fundamentals of complexity theory science to beginners … This strategy has enabled him to explain material of a “highly abstract nature” without necessarily confounding or losing the reader … Thus, Van Ginneken’s book should go some way toward convincing the hostile skeptics … Therefore, his work should be of high interest to mass communication scholars searching for new research directions.” (Shelton A. Gunaratne, Journal of Communication, USA)

“I love this book, because it effectively relativizes the row of books next to it on the bookshelf. They are about planning and design, or about painstaking predictive research. Mind-quakes (Brein-bevingen) is an anti-planning book. It convinces through the great number of explanations, why things evolve differently from what you think. Once you finish it, you look around in a different way... However contrarian this book is, with regard to the current literature in the field of communication planning, it squares well with communication practice – with its chaotic agenda’s and the dousing of fires left and right. Within a complex environment, it is better to surf with the waves. A good feel for the psycho-dynamics in public opinion is much more important than “solid audience research” which must fix the situation. Whoever wants to develop this feel, should read Van Ginneken. It does not make the unpredictable predictable, but it does make the incomprehensible things (that happen to us every day) easier to understand.” (Cees van Woerkom, Professor of Communication, University of Wageningen, Communicatie, the Netherlands)

“One moment investors think they better buy shares, the next moment they are convinced they should get rid of them ... Mass psychologist and communication scientist Jaap van Ginneken tries to come to grips with this mysterious mechanism.” (Specialized daily Het Financieel Dagblad)

“A trail-blazing book.” (Genootschap van Adverteerders GVA (Association of Advertisers), The Netherlands)

“There is no other possibility than that his book is meant to be a catalyst for a paradigm shift in the social sciences – although Van Ginneken is not so pretentious as to state this. In its integrative ambition it reminds us of The tears of the crocodile by Piet Vroon [a best-seller on the tri-unal brain], but apparently Van Ginneken has imposed a stricter direction upon himself. The terse rhythm of the various chapters makes that he never goes off the road; with its elegant architecture and accessible stylethe book is an educational achievement of some stature.” (Ruud Abma, Lecturer of General Social Science, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands)

“Millennium-bug, interest spectre and October phobia … nothing can be excluded, says communication scholar end author Jaap van Ginneken, an expert on mass psychology and collective behaviour sociology.” (National daily De Volkskrant)

Jaap van Ginneken is a Dutch author, specialised in science studies, collective behaviour sociology and mass psychology. He has published some 25 books, the 10 major ones also translated into English. Earlier forerunners of this book were widely hailed as very innovative - yet highly readable.