Reinterpreting social processes: How system theory can help to understand organizations and the example of Indonesia's decentralization

The complexity of social systems is characterized by the possible occurrence of simultaneous or sequential processes of structural change. This paper is focused on certain types of structural change: (i) those produced by assembly and disassembly and (ii) those resulting from decisional and/ or behavioral processes, including both bottom-up and top-down processes. These general concepts from system theory are applied to the case of Indonesia's decentralization. The well-known story of Indonesia's remarkable transition to a democratic society and decentralized nation is presented here in an alternative manner that has allowed us to identify types of structural changes in empirical events. Ultimately, this analysis offers a better explanation of the intrinsic complexity of any social organization and demonstrates an approach to similar problems.