Multiple contexts is an understanding of complex systems that highlights the presence of multiple interrelated contexts with nonlinear interactions between them. It is the concept that any one system is so deeply embedded with other systems and stories that it can not be accurately comprehended without considering the entirety of the entangled relationships. It is the recognition that an examination of any one context, or any one variable or even any one system, only offers an incomplete and ultimately distorted view of the truth. Thus, complete understanding requires taking account of the multiple perspectives existing within each system itself, as well as the broader context into which it is embedded. To understand the complexity of the whole, we must interpret and learn from the many different contexts and interrelationships that exist between them.

See also: mutual learning, complex system, systems theory, systems thinking, multiple perspectives