Janet McIntyre-Mills – författare

Rescuing the Enlightenment from Itself: Critical and Systemic Implications for Democracy presents papers that make the case that good governance is about thinking and practice that can lead to a better balance of social, cultural, political, economic and environmental concerns to ensure a sustainable future for ourselves and for future generations. The work is inspired by the thinking of C. West Churchman and forms the first volume in a new series: C. West Churchman’s Legacy and Related Works. The book features contributions from a range of invited authors including Russell L. Ackoff, Ken Bausch, John van Gigch and Norma Romm. The volume is aimed at academics, post-graduate students and members of professional associations working in the fields of systems sciences, public policy and management, politics, and international relations.

Systemic Governance addresses accounting and accountability and develops conceptual tools to enhance the capacity of policy makers and managers. The structures and processes of international relations and governance need to be re-considered to allow diversity to the extent that is does not undermine the freedoms of others. The book makes a plea for systemic governance. Policy makers and managers need to work with rather than within theoretical and methodological frameworks to achieve multidimensional and multilayered policy decisions. Conceptual tools can be used to enhance systemic governance. The closest we can get to truth is through compassionate dialogue that explores paradoxes and considers the rights and responsibilities of caretakers. Case studies and conceptual tools enliven the text.

The book develops a practical approach to public policy issues that have continued to be intractable because of a lack of emphasis on transcultural understanding. Sustained examples help to increase the readability and the accessibility of theory and methodology. The key themes address the issue that: -Management needs to be more systemic. Critical Systemic Praxis is the process whereby we find ways to work across discipline areas and sectoral areas, in order to address complex social, political, economic and environmental problems. -The way we define and address problems depends on an ability to work with, rather than within knowledge areas. -By introducing the notion of governance we can extend traditional management from an organisational context to an inter-organisational context and locate governance as the goal for sustainable social and environmental justice.

The core aspects of praxis are: -Respectful listening and dialogue to set up appropriate contexts for participatory design. -Participatory designs based on participatory action research to map tacit and explicit knowledge of participants (professional and ordinary citizens). -Strategic decision making across discipline areas, cultural contexts and knowledge areas. -Action learning to transfer the policy and practice learnings. -Mainstreaming the approach to governance in the social, political, economic and environmental sectors.

This book explores the implications of knowing our place in the universe and recognising our hybridity. It is a series of self-reflections and essays drawing on many diverse ways of knowing. The book examines the complex ethical challenges of closing the wide gap in living standards between rich and poor people/communities. The notion of an ecological citizen is presented with a focus on protecting current and future generations. The idea is to track the distribution and redistribution of resources in the interests of social and environmental justice. The central argument looks for ways to hold the powerful to account so as to enable virtuous living by the majority to be demonstrated in what the author calls a “planetary passport” - a careful use of resources and a way to provide safe passage to those in need of safe habitat. The book argues that nation states need to find ways to control the super-rich through the governance process and to enhance a sense of shared ecological citizenship and responsibility for biodiversity. The fundamental approach is collaborative research.

Planetary Passport: Representation, Accountability and Re-Generation is comprised of six chapters. Chapter 1 begins by making a case for a paradigm shift away from business as usual and the pursuit of profit at the expense of the social and environmental fabric of life. The aim is to explore alternatives and to discuss some ways of achieving wellbeing whilst the focus is on human rights, discrimination and outlining the notion of a planetary passport. Chapter 2 makes a specific link between people and the planet as a basis for understanding the nature of hybridity and interconnectedness and the implications for ethics. Chapter 3 focuses on building this planetary passport for social and environmental justice in order to enable people with complex needs to consider the consequences of either continuing to live the same way as before or making changes to the way that they live.Meanwhile Chapter 4 does the same as the previous chapter, but explores the political context of consumption and short term profit Chapter 5 examines the challenges and opportunities that come from explorations within a cross-cultural learning community. This includes a look at co-creation and co-determination. Finally Chapter 6 ends with a look to the future and a potential new framework for people and the planet through a planetary passport.

This book addresses the social and environmental justice challenge to live sustainably and well. It considers the consequences of our social, economic and environmental policy and governance decisions for this generation and the next. The book tests out ways to improve representation, accountability and re-generation. It addresses the need to take into account the ethical implications of policy and governance decisions in the short, medium and long term based on testing out the implications for self, other and the environment. This book recognizes the negative impact that humans have had on the Earth’s ecosystem and recommends a less anthropocentric way of looking at policies and governance. The chapters discuss the geologic impact that people have had on the globe, both positive and negative, and brings awareness to the anthropocentric interventions that have influenced life on Earth during the Holocene era. Based on these observations, the authors discuss original ideas and critical reviews on ways to govern those who interpret the world in terms of human values and experience, and to conduct an egalitarian lifestyle. These ideas address the growing rise in the size of the ecological footprints of some at the expense of the majority, the growth in unsustainable food choices and of displaced people, and the need for a new sense of relationship with nature and other animals, among other issues.

The chapters included in Balancing Individualism and Collectivism: Social and Environmental Justice encourage readers to challenge the sustainability agenda of the anthropocentric life. Proposed solutions to these unsustainable actions include structuralized interventions and volunteerism through encouragement and education, with a focus on protecting current and future generations of life through new governmental etiquette and human cognizance.