Harnessing Social Processes for the Common Good
Keywords:
common good; sociocybernetics; learning society
Abstract
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pepsi-2018-0001
This article argues that harnessing social processes for the common good depends on creating a learning society which will innovate, learn, and evolve in the long-term public interest. In essence, this involves establishing more embedded, interconnected, and interacting, “organic” feedback (sociocybernetic) loops which do not depend on long and distorting chains of “accountability” to distant “representative” assemblies of “decision takers”. Several important steps toward doing this are discussed. However, all depend on undertaking a great deal of adventurous, problem-driven (as distinct from literature-driven) research. By far the most important of these research programmes would be to develop a better understanding of the currently invisible (Kafkaesque) network of social forces that have the future of our species and the planet in their grip and then to find ways of intervening in that network. It is suggested that this is analogous to Newton first conceptualising physical forces and then showing how to measure, map, and harness them. Answering the question of how work like Newton’s could be funded and conducted in modern society – and especially under current research-funding arrangements – thus emerges as crucial to finding a way forward.
References
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Raven, J. (1997b). Can we discuss policy if nothing is what it seems to be? Journal for Mental Changes, III (1), 85-103. http://eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/hcwdpall.pdf
Raven, J. (2008). Intelligence, engineered invisibility, and the destruction of life on earth. In J. Raven & J. Raven (Eds.) Uses and Abuses of Intelligence: Studies Advancing Spearman and Raven’s Quest for Non-Arbitrary Metrics. Unionville, New York: Royal Fireworks Press; Edinburgh, Scotland: Competency Motivation Project; Budapest, Hungary: EDGE 2000; Cluj Napoca, Romania: Romanian Psychological Testing Services SRL. (Chapter 19, pp. 431-471). Also available at http://www.eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/UAIChapter19.pdf
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Seddon, J. (2008). Systems Thinking in the Public Sector: The Failure of the Reform Regime … and a Manifesto for a Better Way. Axminster, UK: Triarchy Press.
Semler, R. (2001). Maverick! London: Random House.
Shiva, V. (1998). Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge. London: Green Books.
Smith, A. (1776/1981). The Wealth of Nations. Harmondsworth, Mddx: Penguin Books.
Stern, P. C. (2000). Psychology and the science of human-environment interactions. American Psychologist, 55(5), 523-530.
Wackernagel, M., & Rees, W. E. (1996). Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers.
Wheatley, M. J. (1994). Leadership and the New Science: Learning about Organization from an Orderly Universe. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Bertalanffy, L. von (1968). General System theory: Foundations, Development, Applications, New York: George Braziller (revised edition 1976: ISBN 0-8076-0453-4).
Bookchin, M. (1991/2005). The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy. Oakland, CA: AK Press.
Bosch, O.J.H., Nguyen, N.C., Maeno,T., & Yasui,T. (2013). Managing Complex Issues through Evolutionary Learning Laboratories Systems Research and Behavioral Science Syst. Res. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/sres.2171 http://www.business.adelaide.edu.au/research/specialisations/systems-design-complexity-management/documents/managing-complex-issues-through-evolutionary-learning-laboratories.pdf
Deming, W. E. (1980a). Improvement of quality and productivity through action by management. National Productivity Review, 1, Winter, 12-22.
Deming, W. E. (1980b). The statistical control of quality. Quality, February, 38-41 and March, 34-36.
Erdal, D. (2008). Local Heroes – How Loch Fyne Oysters Embraced Employee Ownership and Business Success. London: Viking.
Flynn, J. R. (1991). Asian Americans: Achievement Beyond IQ. Hillside, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Flynn, J. (2008). Excerpts from how to defend humane ideals. In J. Raven & J. Raven (Eds.) Uses and Abuses of Intelligence: Studies Advancing Spearman and Raven’s Quest for Non-Arbitrary Metrics. Unionville, New York: Royal Fireworks Press; Edinburgh, Scotland: Competency Motivation Project; Budapest, Hungary: EDGE 2000; Cluj Napoca, Romania: Romanian Psychological Testing Services SRL. (Chapter 25, pp. 556-567). http://eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/UAIChapter25.pdf
Forrester, J. W. (1971/1995). Counterintuitive Behavior of Social System: An introduction to the concepts of system dynamics, discussing social policies and their derivation from incomplete understanding of complex systems. Original text appeared in the January, 1971, issue of the Technology Review published by the Alumni Association of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All figures taken from World Dynamics by Jay W. Forrester, Pegasus Communications, Waltham MA. http://clexchange.org/ftp/documents/Roadmaps/RM1/D-4468-2.pdf
Gardner, H. (1987). Developing the spectrum of human intelligence. Harvard Education Review, 57, 187-193.
Goldratt, E. M., & Cox, J. (2007). The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement (3rd edition). Aldershot, UK: Gower Publishing.
Graeber, D. (2013). On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs. Strike! Magazine. August. http://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/
Graeber, D. (2014). The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis a Movement London: Penguin books.
Johnson, H. T., & Broms, A. (2000). Profit Beyond Measure: Extraordinary Results Through Attention to Work and People. New York: Free Press.
Kanter, R. M. (1985). The Change Masters: Corporate Entrepreneurs at Work. Hemel Hempstead: Unwin Paperbacks.
Klemp, G. O., Munger, M. T., & Spencer, L. M. (1977). An Analysis of Leadership and Management Competencies of Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Naval Officers in the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets. Boston: McBer.
Kohn, A. (1993/1999). Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes (1999 edition features a new Afterword by the author). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Lane, R. E. (1991). The Market Experience. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Litwin, G. H., & Stringer, R. A. (1968). Motivation and Organisational Climate. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration (Division of Research).
McClelland, D. C. (1961). The Achieving Society. New York: Van Nostrand.
McClelland, D. C. (1965). Toward a theory of motive acquisition. American Psychologist, 20, 321-333.
Marks, N., Simms, A., Thompson, S., & Abdallah, S. (2006). The (Un)happy Planet Index: An Index of Human Well-being and Environmental Impact. London: New Economics Foundation. downloadable from www.neweconomics.org and www.happyplanetindex.org
Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D., & Behrens, W. W. (1972). The Limits to Growth: A Report for the Club of Rome’s Project on the Predicament of Mankind. London: Macmillan.
Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D., & Randers, J. (2004). The Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update. London: Earthscan Ltd.
Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D. L., & Randers, J. (2008). www.Vensim\models\sample\WRLD3-O03\World3_03_Scenarios.wmfView
Mill, J. S. (1859/1962). Representative Government. London: Dent.
Oskamp, S. (2000). A sustainable future for humanity? American Psychologist, 55(5), 496-508.
Raven, J. (1991). The Tragic Illusion: Educational Testing. New York: Trillium Press. www.rfwp.com (Now available from the author at 30, Great King Street, Edinburgh EH3 6QH, UK.)
Raven, J. (1994). Managing Education for Effective Schooling: The Most Important Problem Is to Come to Terms with Values. Unionville, New York: Trillium Press. www.rfwp.com; Edinburgh, Scotland: Competency Motivation Project, 30, Great King Street, Edinburgh EH3 6QH. http://eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/fulllist.html#managing_education
Raven, J. (1995). The New Wealth of Nations: A New Enquiry into the Nature and Origins of the Wealth of Nations and the Societal Learning Arrangements Needed for a Sustainable Society. Unionville, New York: Royal Fireworks Press www.rfwp.com; Edinburgh: Competency Motivation Project. http://eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/fulllist.html#new_wealth
Raven, J. (1997a). Competence in Modern Society: Its Identification, Development and Release. Unionville, New York: Royal Fireworks Press. www.rfwp.com
Raven, J. (1997b). Can we discuss policy if nothing is what it seems to be? Journal for Mental Changes, III (1), 85-103. http://eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/hcwdpall.pdf
Raven, J. (2008). Intelligence, engineered invisibility, and the destruction of life on earth. In J. Raven & J. Raven (Eds.) Uses and Abuses of Intelligence: Studies Advancing Spearman and Raven’s Quest for Non-Arbitrary Metrics. Unionville, New York: Royal Fireworks Press; Edinburgh, Scotland: Competency Motivation Project; Budapest, Hungary: EDGE 2000; Cluj Napoca, Romania: Romanian Psychological Testing Services SRL. (Chapter 19, pp. 431-471). Also available at http://www.eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/UAIChapter19.pdf
Raven, J. (2009). The emergence of hierarchy, domination and centralisation: Reflections on the work of Murray Bookchin. Journal for Perspectives of Economic, Political, and Social Integration, 14(1-2), 11-75. Also available at: http://www.eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/Bookchin.pdf
Raven, J. (2012). Competence, education, professional development, psychology, and socio-cybernetics. Chapter 16 in G. J. Neimeyer (Ed.), Continuing Education: Types, Roles, and Societal Impacts. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. http://www.eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/CPDAPA_REVISED_FULL_VERSION.pdf
Raven, J. (2014a). Crisis? What Crisis? In Mulej, M. & Dyck, R. G. Social Responsibility Beyond Neoliberalism and Charity, Volume 1: Social Responsibility – A Non-Technological Innovation Process, chapter 3. DOI: 10.2174/97816080587471140101 Bentham Science Publishers, Sharjah, U.A.E.; Oak Park, IL 60301-0446 USA; Bussum, Netherlands. http://benthamscience.com/ebooks/contents.php?JCode=9781608058747 Extended version of this chapter available at: http://eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/cwc.pdf
Raven, J. (2014b). Our Incompetent Society (with a discussion of some of the competencies needed to transform it) http://eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/Incompetent-society-v3.pdf
Raven, J. (2015). The Banks, World Management, and Sociocybernetics:A paper prompted by events in Greece and chance encounters on Youtube. http://eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/The-Banks-and-World-Management.pdf Russian translation by Oleg Yarygin Karelian Scientific Journal, Vol 2015-3(12) pp.74-79 http://www.napravo.ru/pages/nauchnye_jurnaly/karelskii_nauchnyi_jurnal/nomera_jurnalov_kar/The banks, world management, and sociocybernetics.
Raven, J. (2016). The Pervasive and Pernicious Effects of Neglecting Systems Thinking (especially when combined with a disposition toward fascism). http://eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/Unwillingness-to-engage-in-systems-thinking.pdf
Raven, J., & Gallon, L. (2010). Conceptualising, mapping, and measuring social forces. Journal of Sociocybernetics, 8, 73-110. http://www.eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/scio_unpublished.pdf
Raven, J., & Stephenson, J. (Eds.). (2001) Competence in the Learning Society. New York: Peter Lang. Selected chapters available at: http://eyeonsociety.co.uk/resources/fulllist.html#competence_in_the_learning_society
Rees, W. E. (1992). Ecological footprints and appropriated carrying capacity: What urban economics leaves out. Environment and Urbanization, 4, 121-130.
Seddon, J. (2008). Systems Thinking in the Public Sector: The Failure of the Reform Regime … and a Manifesto for a Better Way. Axminster, UK: Triarchy Press.
Semler, R. (2001). Maverick! London: Random House.
Shiva, V. (1998). Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge. London: Green Books.
Smith, A. (1776/1981). The Wealth of Nations. Harmondsworth, Mddx: Penguin Books.
Stern, P. C. (2000). Psychology and the science of human-environment interactions. American Psychologist, 55(5), 523-530.
Wackernagel, M., & Rees, W. E. (1996). Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers.
Wheatley, M. J. (1994). Leadership and the New Science: Learning about Organization from an Orderly Universe. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
