ABSTRACT
Life on planet Earth is embroiled in a veritable soup of entanglements, networks, and uncertain futures. In our minds the complexity sciences were gaining credible traction within the social sciences, notably in the research areas of sociology that dealt with globalization, technologies, and networks. The sciences of complexity are central to thinking on social futures, whether they frame the ‘breakdown’ mode of social collapse or the ‘breakthrough’ path of renewal through new emerging systems coming into play. John Urry believed strongly that the responsibility of the social sciences was to reclaim their role in examining, discussing, and contributing to our social futures. And in this respect, amongst many others, the work of John Urry was at the forefront of sociology. The ‘carbon web’ that John was so focused upon has, as he correctly anticipated, grown its complex tentacles through many intertwined practices, assemblages, and political.
