Discordant pluralism: A new strategy for critical systems thinking

Gregory, Wendy

doi:10.1007/bf02169216

Cited by 95 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Critical realism is therefore one example of an integrative approach alongside other posited integrative approaches (Pozzebon, 2004;Pozzebon & Pinsonneault, 2005;Pozzebon et al, 2009): Fay's multiculturalism (1996); Bernstein's (1983; work on overcoming the objectivity/subjectivity dichotomy by thinking in terms of 'constellations'; Bourdieu's (1990) habitus and Giddens ' (1984) structuration. Further promising integrative approaches from the domain of systems thinking are here introduced: the theory of autopoiesis (Maturana & Varela, 1992;Mingers, 1996), and discordant pluralism (Gregory, 1996); undoubtedly others exist. We illustrate the position of these options in our three dimensional vision of inquiry (Fig.…”

Section: Fig 2: the Relative Emphasis Of Agency And Structure In Theomentioning

confidence: 99%

Gaining access to agency and structure in industrial marketing theory

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper is concerned with gaining greater insight into the interplay between agency and structure in industrial marketing scholarship. The paper's intent is to embed Midgley's notion of critical pluralism within this endeavour. The paper commends the movement towards increased deployment of critical realism, but cautions against the dangers of creating further atomism in marketing theory by creating another paradigm of thought with crenellated boundaries, impervious to outside influence. The paper advances a case for critical pluralism within industrial marketing scholarship and offers a three dimensional, theoretical, methodical and methodological framework to aid such critical pluralism. The discussion demonstrates how such critical pluralism can be deployed to gain revelatory insight into agency and structure using a number of 'integrative' theoretical perspectives.

show abstract

Section: Fig 2: the Relative Emphasis Of Agency And Structure In Theomentioning

confidence: 99%

Gaining access to agency and structure in industrial marketing theory

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Recent trends in participatory research practice and research on participatory processes include a reassessment of their epistemological foundations (Reason andTorbert 2001, Hatchuel 2005), creation of typologies (Cornwall andJewkes 1995, Probst andHagmann 2003), ethics (Cahill et al 2007, Sultana 2007, and movement toward a range of pluralist perspectives on research philosophy, theory, and method (Gregory 1996, Taket and White 1996, Midgley 2000, Mingers 2003, which is linked to reflection on the position of the researcher and other actors in participatory water management. Maybe most apparent, however, is a trend among many researchers to become active as change managers and facilitate the implementation of participation methods.…”

Section: Trend: Participatory Action As Part Of the Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing Participatory Water Management: Recent Advances in Theory, Practice, and Evaluation

Korff¹,

Daniell²,

Moellenkamp³

et al. 2012

E&S

129

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. Many current water planning and management problems are riddled with high levels of complexity, uncertainty, and conflict, so-called "messes" or "wicked problems." The realization that there is a need to consider a wide variety of values, knowledge, and perspectives in a collaborative decision making process has led to a multitude of new methods and processes being proposed to aid water planning and management, which include participatory forms of modeling, planning, and decision aiding processes. However, despite extensive scientific discussions, scholars have largely been unable to provide satisfactory responses to two pivotal questions: (1) What are the benefits of using participatory approaches?; (2) How exactly should these approaches be implemented in complex social-ecological settings to realize these potential benefits? In the study of developing social-ecological system sustainability, the first two questions lead to a third one that extends beyond the one-time application of participatory approaches for water management: (3) How can participatory approaches be most appropriately used to encourage transition to more sustainable ecological, social, and political regimes in different cultural and spatial contexts? The answer to this question is equally open. This special feature on participatory water management attempts to propose responses to these three questions by outlining recent advances in theory, practice, and evaluation related to the implementation of participatory water management. The feature is largely based on an extensive range of case studies that have been implemented and analyzed by cross-disciplinary research teams in collaboration with practitioners, and in a number of cases in close cooperation with policy makers and other interested parties such as farmers, fishermen, environmentalists, and the wider public. Key Words: adaptive management, collaborative decision making, evaluation, interactive planning, participatory modeling, participatory research, process design, public participation, social learning, stakeholder participation, water resources management FOCUS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE SPECIAL FEATUREMany current water planning and management problems are riddled with high levels of complexity, uncertainty, and conflict, so-called "messes" (Ackoff 1979) or "wicked problems" (Rittel and Webber 1973). These problems are increasingly encountered in the public policy sphere as resources become scarce, conflicts between water users and interest groups proliferate, and the ecological and social aspects of water planning become more prominent. As a result, it is increasingly rare that technical water managers have sufficient decision making authority and capacity to implement plans and water management actions by themselves. Furthermore, the realization that there is a need to consider a wide variety of values, knowledge, and perspectives in a collaborative decision making process has led to a multitude of new methods and processes being proposed to aid water planning and managem...

show abstract

“…Within them there is an acknowledgement that oppositional views, with different perspectives, exist; however, these views are seen as supplementing one another rather than competing with one another. Discordant pluralism accepts that some paradigms or value systems that are so antagonistic that there is no position from which they can be reconciled -but, in theory, when viewed as a constellation (Gregory 1996b) numerous perspectives can be supported at the same time.…”

Section: Behavioural Complexity: Discordant Reference Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The theory of "discordant pluralism", as discussed by Gregory ((1996bGregory (( ), (1996a (Flood & Romm 1996). These three foundational assumptions promote new forms of communication to support ethical decision making.…”

Section: Behavioural Complexity: Discordant Reference Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and cities: problem structuring methods and critical perspectives on low-carbon districts

Freeman¹,

Yearworth²

2017

Energy Research & Social Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cities around the world have set climate change mitigation targets, yet actions to implement these targets have so far proved inadequate. Better methodology is needed to support this impetus for action.Problem structuring methods (PSMs) enable improvements to be made in wicked problem situations; they appear to have potential to improve climate change mitigation actions but they are difficult to carry out in highly pluralist problem contexts. A case study (STEEP) that applied a PSM to support lowcarbon urban energy master planning in three cities is presented. The STEEP methodology was effective in reducing the wickedness of the problem but issues of a lack of clarity on problem ownership and lack of interessement were seen. A reflective boundary critique study found that there was a mismatch between power and interest amongst key stakeholders towards the low-carbon vision. Three key issues identified in the case study were discussed through the lens of critical systems thinking: (i) the need for new competencies, (ii) dealing with wickedness, and (iii) behavioural complexity and discordant reference systems. The paper suggests how these issues might be improved through the application of non-PSM theories which can support the use of PSMs in improving city-level climate change mitigation.Key Words: Problem structuring methods; problematisation; Boundary Critique; climate change mitigation; critical systems thinking IntroductionRecent decades have seen slow and insufficient progress on climate change mitigation -the reduction of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions to below a "safe" level, as recommended by climate science (Edenhofer et al. 2014). Climate change mitigation has been described as a "wicked" problem (Rittel 2There is much potential for cities to play an active role in climate change mitigation. A 40% reduction in carbon emissions from UK cities could be possible by 2020 just from investing in cost-effective lowcarbon technologies (Sullivan et al. 2013). City governments often control some of the key factors related to carbon emissions such as land use planning, building regulations, public transport, and waste management (Kousky & Schneider 2003). Across the world, cities are joining together to support each other in the goal of transitioning to a low-carbon future (for example, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (www.c40.org) and Local Governments for Sustainability (www.iclei.org)). In reality, however, low-carbon cities are difficult to achieve. A study of eight new-build eco-cities found that the idea of building smart, sustainable cities is still relatively new and unproven, with projects being To guide the reader through the rest of this paper, a brief description of the main sections follows:• Section 2, Background -Perspectives on Urban Climate Change Mitigation: A review of the literature on the nature of the problem of climate change mitigation at the city level, including barriers to mitigation, ideological perspectives from social science, and governance mechanisms that ha...

show abstract

Discordant pluralism: A new strategy for critical systems thinking

Cited by 95 publications

References 23 publications

Gaining access to agency and structure in industrial marketing theory

Gaining access to agency and structure in industrial marketing theory

Implementing Participatory Water Management: Recent Advances in Theory, Practice, and Evaluation

Climate change and cities: problem structuring methods and critical perspectives on low-carbon districts

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About