Towards A Social Ecology : Contextual Appreciations of the Future in the Present

Sir Geoffrey Vickers This book is described as a contribution 'towards a social ecology'. As such it is timely and welcome. The phrase is not yet familiar, the concept still imprecise; we need urgently to move toward a better understanding of it. The word 'ecology' began to become familiar outside scientific circles when human intervention in natural processes began to have effects so unforeseen, so dramatic and so disastrous as to make headline news. It might be infestation by an unfamiliar pest, like the rabbit in Australia; or soil erosion, from ill-controlled clearing and cropping; or pollution from fertilizers or industrial wastes; or urban proliferation; or toxic accumulation of pesticides. From the crescendo of such warnings, industrial man began to learn again what agricultural man learned long ago-that he is only one among many species, whose continued existence depends not only or primarily on competitive struggle but on most complex systems of mutual support, not less effective for being unconscious and unplanned. These are the kind of systems that ecologists study; so we look to ecology for light upon them. Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Planning and a Conceptual Basis for Predicting the Future....Pages 3-15 Complexity Reduction....Pages 16-23 The Early Detection of Emergent Processes....Pages 24-37 The General Characteristics of Social Fields—Environmental Levels....Pages 38-56 Adaptation to Turbulent Environments....Pages 57-67 Active Adaptation—The Emergence of Ideal Seeking Systems....Pages 68-79 Front Matter....Pages 81-81 Re-evaluating the Role of Science....Pages 83-90 The Establishment of Problem-oriented Research Domains....Pages 91-102 Collaborative Social and Technical Innovation....Pages 103-119 The Relation of Welfare and Development: Systems and Ideo-Existential Aspects....Pages 120-136 The Relation of Welfare and Development: Historical and Contemporary Aspects....Pages 137-155 The Structural Presence of the Post-industrial Society....Pages 156-171 The Cultural Absence of the Post-industrial Society....Pages 172-181 Task and Contextual Environments for New Personal Values....Pages 182-189 The Risk-Security Balance and the Burden of Choice....Pages 190-202 From Planning Towards the Surrender of Power....Pages 203-210 Back Matter....Pages 211-239 One.- The next thirty years: concepts, methods and anticipations.- 1 Planning and a conceptual basis for predicting the future.- 2 Complexity reduction.- 3 The early detection of emergent processes.- 4 The general characteristics of social fields: Environmental levels.- 5 Adaptation to turbulent environments.- 6 Active adaptation: The emergence of ideal seeking systems.- Two.- Aspects of the transition to post-industrialism.- 7 Re-evaluating the role of science.- 8 The establishment of problem-oriented research domains.- 9 Collaborative social and technical innovation.- 10 The relation of welf