Systems Theory and Practice

A short introduction to the author's critical systems heuristics (CSH), a framework for reflective professional practice based in critical systems thinking and practical philosophy.

Abstract: Health care planning, city and regional planning, energy and transportation planning, environmental design, social policy planning and other areas of social systems design are becoming issues of increasing concern to policy makers. Faced with complex steering problems that may have far-reaching implications, they expect help from applied disciplines such as operations research, systems design, technology assessment, program evaluation, and many others; but these approaches rarely offer much help in critically identifying and reflecting on the normative implications of the problem definitions and solutions they inspire. Critical systems heuristics (CSH) is a framework to this end. This paper, an early short introduction to CSH that is still widely used today, introduces some key concepts of CSH and briefly discusses their significance for "rational" practice.

What does good operational research (OR) practice mean, and what can critical systems thinking (CST) do for it? This two-part essay proposes new answers to both questions. Part 1 first reviews the idea and history of systems thinking in OR, as a basis for properly situating CST within OR. It then offers a comparative, non-partisan account of the two strands of CST, critical systems heuristics (CSH) and total systems intervention (TSI), and identifies their combined potential in an ability to enhance the contextual sophistication of OR. The prevalent but inaccurate notion of the history of OR as a linear evolution from ‘hard’ to ‘soft’ and ‘critical’ systems thinking is replaced by an integrated perspective of OR as applied systems thinking.

How can we develop competence in research and professional practice? This essay tries to answer the question from the perspective of critical systems thinking, that is, through an approach that aims to promote reflective research and practice. The paper is written for research students and practitioners in different professional fields. It addresses them in a direct and personal way.

Note: This article is a considerably expanded version of the Lincoln School of Management Working Paper No. 22 of June 1998 (also available in this site).
A further-expanded and updated version was prepared for Ulrich's Bimonthly, July-August 2017 (Vol. 15, No. 4, 28 August 2017) and is equally available in the Academia.edu site, see Section "Philosophy for Professionals – on Good practice," entry "Ulrich, W. (2017)".

How can critical systems thinking (CST) strengthen the competence profile of professionals? Considering the examples of operational research, policy analysis, and process consultation, and moving beyond the view developed in Part 1 of professional practice as applied systems thinking, an argumentation-theoretical turn of the understanding of professional competence is suggested. It yields an integrated perspective of competence in terms of systems thinking and argumentative practice, in which CST finds a systematic place.

This entry on "Critical systems thinking" (CST), prepared for a major encyclopedia in the field of Operations Research and Management Science, offers a non-partisan, comparative account of CST's two major strands, CSH and TSI. A new, integrative understanding of CST emerges in which both strands, although in different ways, focus on enhancing the contextual sophistication of professionals.

A personal appreciation of C.W. Churchman's philosophy of social systems design, and the role it played in the author's work on critical systems heuristics.

Revised version of a Guest Editorial, originally titled "C. West Churchman – 75 Years," which served as the introduction to a Special Issue of the journal Systems Practice (now Systemic Practice and Action Research) in honor of C.W. Churchman's 75th anniversary in August 1988. First uploaded to Academia.edu in April 2015.

The Guest Editorial in turn was based on an essay titled "An appreciation of C. West Churchman," which was originally written for the section "Luminaries of the Systems Approach" of the web site of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS), first published on 29 August 1999 and updated several times (last update 4 Nov 2009). A major revision of 12 Nov 2002 was subsequently published in both HTML and PDF formats in the section "A Tribute to C.W. Churchman" of the author's home page, followed by a final revision of 26 March 2009 (last updated 16 Jan 2016). See the PDF file made available here for the essay history.

Two basic concepts of critical systems think­ing (CST) are ‘dis­course’ and ‘eman­ci­pa­tion’. Both con­cepts ap­­pear to give rise to a number of con­fu­sions. In this paper the author seeks to clarify the mean­ing and impor­tance of these two con­cepts as they are used in his Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH), in dis­tinc­tion to the way they are usually under­stood in the sys­tems lit­erature. Four main points are made:

1. An adequate practical conception of critical systems thinking today needs to be based on a discursive theory of critique rather than a framework of critical meth­od­ol­ogy choice.

2. A discursive systems approach cannot be ade­quately con­ceived with­out con­sid­er­ing the role of the public sphere.

3. The much-dis­cus­sed eman­­ci­pa­tory ori­en­ta­tion of critical systems thinking inheres in the meth­odolo­gi­cal require­­ments of rational discourse rather than in a per­sonal act of faith (an eman­ci­pa­tory commitment) on the part of the systems prac­ti­tio­ner.

4. Contrary to present conceptions of methodological pluralism or ‘com­ple­men­tarism’, the importance of the emancipa­tory orientation can­not be restricted to a sub­class of problem situa­tions and corresponding methodologies, for the eman­ci­pa­tory orientation is con­stitutive of all critical inquiry and practice.

These critical considerations lead to a redefinition of critical systems thinking, and to a new view of reflective professional practice in general, as critically systemic discourse.

An early case study of Stafford Beer's "Project Cybersyn" (1971-73), an attempt to steer the nationalized sector of the Chilean economy under the Allende government on the basis of cybernetic modeling. At the same time, the paper offers an early, fundamental critique of the use of cybernetics and other systems approaches in ways that reduce practical to theoretical and instrumental reason, as they are not grounded in an adequate understanding of practical rationality.

"This book develops a sociologically informed theory of constitutionalism in the global realm, addressing both national and transnational forms of constitutional ordering. The book begins with the argument that current approaches to constitutionalism remain tied to a state-based conception of constitutions, and overlooks underlying structural transformations that trigger the emergence of constitutional forms of ordering. Poul F. Kjaer aims to address this shortcoming by offering a sociological and historically informed analysis of the evolution of constitutionalism in the face of globalisation. The analysis contextualises on-going constitutional developments through the use of a long-term historical perspective, which is capable of highlighting the impact of deeper structural transformations unfolding within society.
The book looks at the ways in which national and transnational legal forms have evolved alongside one another. It demonstrates that the formation of global constitutions has not resulted in a corresponding decrease in the power of nation states, but instead, legal and political aspects of both the nation state and the transnational have been reconfigured and intensified in a mutually supportive manner.
In combining insights from a range of fields, this interdisciplinary book will be of great interest to students and scholars of constitutional law, sociology, global governance studies, and legal, social and political theory.

List of Content
1. Introduction: The Metamorphosis of Constitutionalism
Part 1: Structural Transformations
2. The Implosion of the Euro-Centric World
3. The Multiplicity of Normative Orders in World Society
Part 2: Re-configurations of Law and the Political
4. The Law within and in-between Normative Orders
5. The Political within and in-between Normative Orders
Part 3: Constitutional Stabilisation
6. The Breakdown of Constitutional Ordering through Globalisation-induced Crises
7.The Transmutation of Constitutional Ordering
8.Re-calibrating the Constitutional Concept
9. Conclusion

Reviews and Review essays:
- Aldo Mascareño: Revista de Ciencia Política, 36, 2, 587 – 592, 2016.
- Gregory Shaffer: ‘Law, Constitutionalism and World Society: Kjaer, Kratochwil,
and global (dis)order’, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 13, 4, 1063–1077, 2015.
-    Alfons Bora: Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie, 35, 1, 152-156, 2015.
- Grahame Thompson: ‘Socializing the Constitution?’, Economy and Society, 44, 3, 480 – 93, 2015.

Future-responsive management raises far-reaching cognitive and methodological difficulties. This essay in honor of C.W. Churchman, former management scientist and research philosopher at the University of California, Berkeley, analyzes some of these difficulties in the light of Churchman's systems thinking about planning and management. Although systems thinking cannot make the difficulties in question disappear, it can help us to better understand them and to face them self-critically. To this end, the systems idea has more to contribute than is generally recognized. The paper suggests some basic elements of a critical systems ethics yet to be developed.