Earthdream: A critical interpretation

“The Earth is on the verge of destruction” has become a common cry nowadays. This cry embodies “the Earth and its ailments” as a symbol which synthesizes many concerns revolving around modern decadence and the current predicament of human-kind. But what contexts provide full meaning to this symbol? What conditions have made possible the emergence not only of extremely waste-oriented and environmentally dangerous societies but also of a spiritually impoverished world? In the spirit of interpretive systemology, a critical interpretation of the “Earth's ailments” is undertaken in this paper. The interpretive task is cast in the form of a hermeneutical exercise, namely, the exegesis ofEarthdream, a book written by Robert Hamilton. This particular piece of work, upon which the present paper is fully based, is chosen as a vehicle for the critical interpretive inquiry, not only because it summarizes the current debate on the world crisis (thus providing a standard reference for beginning the interpretive inquiry), but also because the argument it develops can be molded within a format which facilitates the critical interpretation to be conducted. Accordingly, two interpretive contexts will be uncovered, and internal and external critiques outlined; to give full meaning to the symbol “Earth's ailments.” Two major interests propel the interpretive task. One relates to the participation of systems practitioners in the current crisis and the need to encourage responsible systems practice. The other interest arises simply from the fact that we are all on the same raft called Earth, and the raft seems to be sinking!     

Unfolding a Theory of Systemic Intervention

This paper interrogates four perspectives (structuralist community psychology, deconstruction, interpretive systemology, and critical systems thinking) to inform the unfolding of a theory of systemic intervention. A vision of epistemology is provided which clarifies the relationships among knowledge, power, will and intervention, and a normative framework for systemic intervention is then presented. Finally, the theory unfolded in this paper is deconstructed to reveal a second theory, yet to be explored, of systemic life projects. This provides an exciting agenda for future research.     

EcoLiteracy and MetaResponsibility: ‘Steps to an Ecology of Mind’

For 25 years the Monash Graduate School of Environmental Science has attempted to teach a critical epistemology as core to its graduate programs. The idea is to provide a complement to the Cartesian world view its students bring with them. It provides a capacity to analyse for the interpretive models upon which phenomena of concern are based and with these models in mind to propose strategies for acting “metaresponsibly” in environment. The intellectual basis of this approach is developed and then applied to a range of current issues. An unusual and liberating set of responses is generated.The title of the seminal work by Gregory Bateson (Bantam, 1973). In the early years of the Monash program in systems thinking, this work and his last, Mind & Nature: A Necessary Unity (Bantam, 1980), were primary references.     

Towards a methodology for organisational intervention in Colombian enterprises

The lack of autonomy of people in the working place is the basic problem addressed by the methodology for organisational intervention that has been developed by the group TESO at the University of Los Andes in Bogota. This lack of autonomy accounts for their lack of creativity, motivation, and political consciousness. We take Freire's conception of consciousness as related to social formations, and how autonomy is achieved by working with his methodology. We also use Heidegger's concepts of calculative and meditative thinking and relate them to the development of consciousness. Finally we show how through a methodology that facilitates contact of persons with the self, the workspace, and others, they develop autonomy and an ability to define conflicts and work out ways to stransform their world.     

Piaget,self-organizing knowledge,and critical systems practice

An examination of Piaget's conception of the source, nature, development, and use of knowledge reveals that his model for the genetic development of human knowledge is cybernetic and self-organizing. Moreover, Piaget presents a model of cognition which is a reflection and extension of autopoietic biological organization; both cognitive and organic systems are seen to exhibit organizational closure and structural plasticity. An action-based intervention method, modeling embedded learning structures as cybernetic, autopoietic systems, may provide insight toward clarifying some theoretical and methodological problems of critical systems thinking.     

The trap of evolutionary organicism

This article is a slightly summarized version of an invited plenary at the Aegean Seminar, which took place at the Greek island of Samos in July 1992. The original title was “An Interpretive Systemological View of the Issue: ‘Environmental Fluctuations and Cultural Change in Island Societies.”’ It is an hermeneutical inquiry into the interpretive context that provides full meaning to the issue of Environmental Fluctuations and Cultural Change. The roots of the relationship of causality embedded in such a title are traced so that its underlying ontological assumptions are uncovered. This sort of archaeological inquiry will finally unearth the interpretive context that provides full meaning to such a relationship of causality, namely,neoevolutionary organicism. This theoretical outcome of Modernity embraces natural and social sciences under the aegis of a single way of thinking, feeling, and acting which buries the Enlightenment conception of liberty and its consequent problem of morality and of practical reason.     

Human inquiry: Steps towards emancipatory practice

In this paper we explore the contribution of work in Human Inquiry to the debate about what might constitute authentic emancipatory practice and about how such an ideal might be approached. We beghin by considering some key values, issues, and commitments which characterise this work and distinguish it from other established research traditions. A number of distinct approaches to the practice of human inquiry have been articulated. These are referred to but it is not our purpose to review particular approaches in detail here. Rather our aim is to move from this overview of human inquiry to consider some important implications for practice. In particular, we look at Bateson's theory of levels of learning and explore ways in which both the intellectual and the more personal frameworks of participants can contribute to, and at times impede, the kinds of mutual learning with which human inquiries are concerned. We illustrate this discussion by drawing on examples from our own work in human inquiry. Here we aim to highlight particular implications and issues that might arise within human inquiries. One source of illustrations is Peter's work with general and complementary practitioners in a primary health care centre, the other is Anne's work with UWE student groups acting as consultants for local community organisations. In each case we consider some origins, forms, and expressions of power differences and show how empowerment can occur as participants learn within and across Bateson's levels as inquiries progress. We conclude by summarising the evidence of and opportunities for empowerment in each case and by showing how a deeper appreciation of Bateson's levels of learning can further understanding of the nature of emancipatory practice. Finally, we make more general suggestions about the role of approaches to Human Inquiry in future emancipatory practice.     

“Fifth Discipline”: Review and Discussion

The book Fifth Discipline is Peter Senge's account of the learning organization. For Senge, five disciplines are necessary to bring about a learning organization—personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking (called systemic thinking from here on). Systemic thinking is the discipline that integrates all five disciplines. Each discipline is briefly explored in this paper, with emphasis placed on systemic thinking. Senge's concern with localness and openness is also touched upon. The paper concludes with an outline critique of Senge's work.     

The critical kernel in modern systems thinking

This paper unpeels two influential contributions to modern systems thinking, Beer's viable system model (VSM) and Checkland's soft systems methodology (SSM), and finds inside a critical kernel. It is argued, indeed, that these approaches become coherent only when liberated from their regulative shells and interpreted from the critical position. So much does the critical kernel lie at the very heart of modern systems thinking.     

Control,organization, and accounting: A genealogy of modern knowledge-power

Much social scientizing tends to be ahistorical, particularly with regard to its fundamental terms and constructs, which are implicitly defined atemporally as simply “being there,” the givens of discourse. The history of two such terms, “control” and “organization,” is investigated here. In an elaboration of Foucault's idea of power-knowledge relations, a two-stage history of the terms is set out linked to the historical emergence of accounting. In the first stage, the initial invention of the terms in the thirteenth century is aligned with the contemporaneous invention of the doubleentry system, with all these innovations embodying a new power of writing. However the constructs only develop their modern significance as forms of knowledge-power at a much later stage, following the establishment of a “disciplinary” power-knowledge nexus post-1800. Under this interpretation, accounting, control, and organization, far from being ahistorical givens of discourse, are constructs which help establish the modern world of “disciplinary,” that site where the power of expert knowledge must operate.     

Power in organizations: A contingent,relational view

The concept of power is central to social inquiry, yet it is highly varied and enigmatic. There is a wide-ranging and competing variety of subjectivist, objectivist, and relational conceptions of power. The first part of the paper examines this problem in an exegetical but critical manner. The aim is to develop a critical conception of this social phenomenon. The second part of the paper seeks to probe the nature of three types of systems approach in terms of their underwriting assumptions about power in society. The intent is twofold: to uncover the ideologically suppressed truths about the noxious forms of power and to develop a penetrative understanding of how the mystified “truths” in ideological conceptions of power contain hidden meanings that have the critical potential for educative enlightenment, empowerment, and emancipation for systems theory and practice.     

Towards a critique of Critical Systems Thinking within a foucauldian framework: A “demystification process” or an “instrumental use” of Critical Theory

Critical Systems Thinking is an approach which aims at providing a coherent platform to guide systems practitioners through the numerous systems paradigms and systems methodologies currently available. However, it claims not only that it can provide an efficient way for choosing the appropriate methodology based on proper understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, but also that it is grounded within a commitment to critique, complementarism, and emancipation. Furthermore, it has claimed to be deeply rooted in the ideas of Habermas and Foucault. Considering recent research in Foucault's philosophy, this paper attempts to provide of CST a critical examination which can be extended to other areas of the management and systems sciences. In the context of this examination, the conclusion has been reached that CST has at least two options. The first is to redefine itself as a demystification process (of cherished concepts such as emancipation, complementarism, intervention and so on), if it wants to remain somehow ‘inspired’ by Critical Theory. The second one is to redefine its ‘critical’ claims so as to become aligned with managerial activities such as business consultancy and intervention, openly acknowledging an application of Critical Theory that is instrumental, if such an influence indeed exists.     

Birth and Demise of a Social Protection Organization in Venezuela

In this article a context for the study of a social protection organization is presented. This context is based on three ideas: (i) social protection is a requirement for assuming the cohesion and continuation of society; (ii) in an industrialized society, social protection is conceived in connection with salary; and (iii) the organizational form of social protection in Venezuelan society is Social Security guaranteed by a Welfare State. The becoming of our Social Security organization is interpreted with these concepts. The interpretive process consists in the unfolding of the relation between the organizational form and the conceptions about social protection since the birth of the organization 60 years ago. This unfolding simultaneously reveals failure concerning coverage of the risks typical of social security and a radical change in the conception of social protection in Venezuela. These results rest on the non-realization of premise ii of the interpretive context in the case of the Venezuelan society. The article concludes by showing the need to understand the conceptions regarding social protection in contexts different from that of an industrial society (advanced or not).     

A sketch for humane operational research in a technological society

This article is based on my presidential address to the Swedish Operational Research Society 1996 Conference. It starts with a statement affirming the critical need to incorporate virtues and norms in the management and operation of our institutions. With the help of multimodal systems thinking and Stafford Beer's Viable Systems Model, it builds a framework that allows the transfer of such things as faith, love, and wisdom into the operation of our social systems and their management. The article concludes with the placing of operational research and management theory within this framework and with a challenge to all operational researchers to work for new modeling techniques that will contribute to a more virtuous and humane society.     

The origins and nature of critical systems thinking

Critical systems thinking is a relative newcomer in the systems tradition of thought. Nevertheless, it has already made a number of significant contributions to the field and is now developing more quickly than any other part of systems thinking. The paper charts the origins and nature of this evolving, critical systems, body of work. The author's own impressions of its development are first set out. This helps establish that critical systems thinking has come to rest upon five commitments which define its essential character. These commitments are then used to classify the published literature associated with critical systems thinking. The result is a review of the origins and nature of critical systems thinking up to 1990.     

Storying Systems: Managing Everyday Flux Using Mode 2 Soft Systems Methodology

This paper examines work with managers who used a narrative approach to systemic thinking. Storytelling is incorporated within Mode 2 SSM involving a flexible approach to the analysis of complex or "messy" situations at work. Mode 2 SSM is presented as a thinking mode by those within the problem situation, involving the use of various devices of rich pictures, relevant systems, and root definitions, whereby managers and others may make sense of their experiences from within the flux of everyday life. The focus of the approach is learning through reflection on events and activities to consider potential actions and improvements in difficult situations. The findings show the initial difficulty and disappointment of learning to deal with complexity and the unexpected but how quickly the "gain outweighs the pain," as managers learned to attune themselves to the flux of situations, to identify how to work with flows and energies more creatively, and to become conscious of what was happening on the edge of awareness.     

The institution as an “Ideological system”: How morals maketh organization

A dominant current view of institutions sees them as task-performing entities and hence views improvements and change as functional in nature. Systems views of managing change in institutions are particularly guilty of adopting this view. Recommendations for change take the form of improving the task and organization structures to make the functions more efficient and effective in performance. This paper argues that such a functionalist view of an institution is limited and can be dangerous when considering recommendations for change. A different view of an institution is proposed. This view is interpretivist and uses the notion of organizational culture to show how institutions may be usefully viewed through the notion of “ideological system.” The theoretical framework for this notion is that of institutional members sharing and developing a common interpretive schema and exploiting this in their making of judgments about appropriate and inappropriate actions and change. This framework is then developed into the view that ideologies express the morals of institutional life and that so-called functional activities can be seen as essentially moral in action and intention. It is the symbolic nature of such moralities that allows the institutional life to be understood by its members and decisions to be made about what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. The argument is made that this view of organizations is fundamentally important in analysis so that prioritization decisions can be understood and appropriate recommendations for change can be made. This paper shows how systems approaches can be used from this framework but that a different notion of institution, and hence change, needs to be adopted. An interpretative approach to organizational analysis is then developed and presented. Reference is made to various cases to illustrate the argument.