TNBC Academic Framework — Fields, Disciplines & Core Concept

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This page presents the TNBC Academic Framework — a structured map of the academic fields, disciplines, and core concepts that underpin TheNextBigCycle.

It shows how established ideas from economics, political science, sociology, psychology, history, international relations, and systems thinking connect to explain power, institutions, incentives, and social change in complex societies.

The framework is designed as a cognitive map, not an academic theory or ideology.

TNBC does not seek to contribute new research to individual disciplines, but to integrate insights across fields in order to make systemic interactions, constraints, and recurring patterns more visible.

Used this way, the framework helps readers orient themselves across overlapping domains and understand how seemingly separate concepts operate together as parts of larger systems.

How to read this framework 

The table below maps each TNBC Explainers concept to its primary academic domain, field, and sub-field, showing how different disciplines connect within a systems-based analysis. Classifications are indicative rather than exhaustive, reflecting the goal of orientation and integration rather than definitive academic categorization.

The TNBC Academic Framework is intended as a reference layer that supports the broader content of TheNextBigCycle, including TNBC Explainers and related analyses. It is not a curriculum, ranking of disciplines, or substitute for formal academic study.

By presenting concepts side by side across fields, the framework highlights recurring structures and constraints that shape societies over time. Readers are encouraged to use it as a starting point for further inquiry, cross-disciplinary learning, and independent validation of the ideas discussed throughout the TNBC project.