This is the first half of a two part paper which deals with the social theoreticassumptions underlying system dynamics. The motivation is that clarification inthis area can help mainstream social scientists to understand how our field relatesto their literature, methods and concerns.Part I has two main sections. The aim of the first is to answer the question: Howdo the ideas of system dynamics relate to traditional social theories? The theoreticassumptions of the field are seldom explicit but rather are implicit in its practice.The range of system dynamics practice is therefore considered and related to aframework - widely used in both OR and systems science - which organises theassumptions behind traditional social theoretic paradigms. Distinct andsurprisingly varied groupings of practice are identified, making it difficult to placesystem dynamics in any one paradigm with any certainty.The difficulties of establishing a social theoretic home for system dynamics areexemplified in the second main section. This is done by considering the question:Is system dynamics deterministic? An analysis shows that attempts to relate systemdynamics to strict notions of voluntarism or determinism quickly indicate that thefield does not fit with either pole of this dichotomous, and strictly paradigmatic,view.Part I therefore concludes that definitively placing system dynamics with respectto traditional social theories is highly problematic. The scene is therefore set forPart II of the paper, which proposes an innovative and potentially fruitfulresolution to this problem.
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