Jonathan Reams
Another Step: The Evolution of Integral Review
Tags: editorial
Issue 2 Jun 2006
In Memoriam: Reinhard Fuhr
Thomas Jordan
Memorial note on the passing of Reinhard Fuhr, founder of Integral Review.
Tags: Reinhard Fuhr, Jordan
The Springs of Leadership
Nathan Harter
Leadership denotes activity, if not strenuous activity. Yet in its own way contemplation is an activity—an activity arguably at the root of leadership, which this meditation seeks to justify.
Tags: leadership, nature, Nathan Harter, Activity, contemplation/meditation, ensimismamiento
A Transdisciplinary Mind: An Interview with Ian Mitroff
Russ Volckmann
Abstract: Known more widely as the “Father of Crisis Management,” University of Southern California professor Ian Mitroff came to the work of Ken Wilber and integral theory over two decades ago. No one else has brought an integral perspective to the fields of management and organization theory for as long as Mitroff. In this interview he talks about the development of his theories, the people he has worked closely with, his spiritual development and the streams of his work, including his research on spirituality in organizations. While his involvement with Wilber’s Integral Institute is not what he would like it to be, he sees there the potential to develop an institution that addresses the politicization and failures of our institutions of higher education. In the face of the crisis in leadership, integral and transdisciplinary approaches have the potential for making a positive difference as we are faced with the dissolution of distinctions that underlie how we make meaning in the world.
Tags: spirituality, transdisciplinary, integral, Russ Volckmann, leadership, psychology, systems, crisis
Integrales Lernen in und von Organisationen
Wendelin Küpers
Abstract: Bezogen auf das integrale Models von Ken Wilber untersucht der Beitrag die Bedeutung des Lernens in und von Organisationen. Nach einer Darstellung der Relevanz und des Grundverständnisses des Lernens im Organisationskontext, werden integrale Dimensionen des Lernens dargestellt. Im Einzelnen werden die verschiedenen Sphären eines inneren-subjektiven und äusseren-„objektiven“ Lernens des Einzelnen als auch ein gemeinschaftliches Lernen und Lernen im System auf der kollektiven Ebene dargestellt sowie deren interrelationaler Zusammenhang diskutiert. Schließlich beschreibt der Beitrag noch integrale Lernprozesse sowie integrale Gestaltungsfelder zur Förderung des Lernens in den verschiedenen Bereichen. Abschließend spricht der Artikel noch Schwierigkeiten und Probleme an sowie nimmt im Fazit ein perspektivischen Ausblick vor.
Abstract: Related to the integral model of Ken Wilber, this paper investigates the role of learning in and of organisations. After describing the relevance and basic understanding of learning in the context of organisations, integral dimensions of learning will be outlined. In particular learning in the sphere of an inner-subjective and exterior-objective learning of the individual and a communal learning and learning within a system on the collective level as well as its interrelations will be discussed. Afterwards integral learning processes and various measurements for enhancing integral learning in the different sphere will be discussed. Finally, difficulties and problems will be addressed and in conclusion some perspectives and implications are presented.
Tags: Wendelin Küpers, Integrale lernprozesse, integrale theorie, organisatorisches lernen, Integral learning processes, integral theory, organizational learning.
Voegelin’s Ladder
Nathan Harter
Abstract: Leadership has non-logical aspects. One of these is spirituality. Voegelin’s Ladder provides a context for studying spirituality as a part of leadership. What it reveals is that spirituality arises at the intersection of the human with the divine. Spirituality expresses itself as purpose and aspiration, which a leader embodies.
Tags: leadership, Nathan Harter, spirituality, Great Chain of Being, Voegelin, Eric.
More Perspectives, New Politics, New Life: How a Small Group Used The Integral Process For Working On Complex Issues
Sara Ross
Abstract: This article reports on a small research project with citizens who wanted to address their community’s chronically adversarial behaviors and atmosphere. It complements a longer research report on the same project, which is also published in this issue of Integral Review. The project used a structured public discourse process, The Integral Process For Working On Complex Issues (TIP). This article supplies background on TIP’s origins, then focuses on two areas. First, it explains the process steps used in the project in conjunction with the issue that participants developed by using them. Second, using examples from participants’ experiences of transformative impacts from their work in the project, it reports on two themes that underlie the main impacts and outcomes. The group worked on an issue about how its own intentions and tones needed to be chosen carefully if participants wanted to improve the adversarial local culture. The article includes links to “products” the group created in the course of its work. The themes were about dissolving “us versus them” mindsets and behaviors, and the liberation of being able to use multiple perspectives (as compared to only one point of view). This article is aimed at a diverse audience of individuals and organizations interested in promoting healthy individual and social change by addressing complex public issues and relationships. A brief epilogue sketches how TIP embeds criteria of integral theory.
Tags: decision-making, group process, political culture, public discourse, public relationships, replicable, Sara Ross, The Integral Process For Working On Complex Issues, transformative, action inquiry, complex issues, deliberation
Plain and Integral: An Interview with Karen Kho
Jonathan Reams
Abstract: Karen Kho describes her work in the Alameda County Green Building Program. She covers the application of an integral framework to working with a variety of stakeholders in the residential building industry. This work includes a stakeholder analysis, rating program, educational materials and guidelines. How the program expanded beyond Alameda County is also covered.
Tags: Green building, residential home building., integral, Jonathan Reams
Le Peer to Peer: Vers un Nouveau Modèle de Civilisation
Michel Bauwens
Abstract: Le « peer to peer » est la dynamique intersubjective caractéristique des réseaux distribués. Le but de cet essai est de montrer qu’il s’agit d’une véritable nouvelle forme d’organisation sociale, apte à produire et échanger des biens, à créer de la valeur. Celle-ci est la conséquence d’un nouvel imaginaire social, et possède le potentiel de devenir le pilier d’un nouveau mode d’économie politique, voire d’un nouveau type de civilisation. Pour cela, nous allons d’abord définir le P2P, décrire en bref ces manifestations, et le différencier d’autres modalités d’échange intersubjectif tel que le marché, la hiérarchie, l’économie du don.
Comme principale modalité P2P nous distinguons: Les processus de production P2P, comme troisième mode de production, qui n’est ni géré par un mode hiérarchique ou par l’état, ni répondant à des impératifs de profit ou qui sont modulés par le biais des prix. Les processus de gouvernance P2P, qui gouverne ces processus de production. Les formes de propriété P2P, qui sont destine a empecher l’appropriation prive de cette production pour le commun.
Afin d’examiner les characteristiques de cette nouvelle dynamique sociale, nous utilisons la typologie intersubjective de l’anthropologue Alan Page Fisque, qui distingue: 1. l’échange égalitaire (Equality Matching), c..a.d l’economie du don. 2. La relation d’autorité (Authority Ranking) tel qu’elle s’exprime dans le mode hierarchique. 3. le marché (Market Pricing). 4. la participation commune (Communal Shareholding).
En conclusion, nous examinons les possibilites d’expansion de ce nouveau mode sociale et son insertion dans l’economie capitaliste, en nous nous posons la question: le P2P peut-il etre concu comme alternative sociale et economique aux modeles existants.
Abstract: “Peer to peer” is hypothesized as a new social formation with intersubjective dynamics characteristic of distributed networks. This is shown to have profound implications for the transformation of our current form of market economy. To demonstrate this, I initially will define P2P, and carefully distinguish it from other modes of production and governance such as reciprocity-based gift economies, markets etc.. Peer to peer dynamics are associated with a series of important processes: Peer production as a third mode of production, peer governance, and Universal common property regimes.
In order to examine characteristics of this new social dynamic, I use the intersubjective typology of the anthropologist Alan Page Fisque, who distinguishes: 1. leveling exchange (Equality Matching), the gift economy. 2. The relation of authority (Authority Ranking) such as it is expressed in the hierarchic mode. 3. The market (Market Pricing). 4. The common participation (Communal Shareholding).
In the end, I look into the possibilities of expansion for this new social formation,
which holds great promise for a reform of our polity towards more participation. I conclude the article with an examination of the integrative nature of P2P.
Tags: Reseaux, Capitalism, cognitive, Michel Bauwens, economy, policy., capitalisme, cognitif, Economie, Internet, Politique, Societe de l'information
Perspectives On Troubled Interactions: What Happened When A Small Group Began To Address Its Community’s Adversarial Political Culture
Sara Ross
Abstract: This study investigated fostering political development (as defined in the report) through an integration of adult development, public issues analysis, and structured public discourse. Entitled The Integral Process For Working On Complex Issues, that multi-session discourse methodology includes issue analysis and framing, deliberation, and organizing systemic action. Its issue-framing template helps users generate multiple approaches to issues that reflect different levels of complexity and incorporate the conceivable human and institutional perspectives and environmental life conditions. The small group used the discourse process to select a public issue of concern and to begin to address it. It was about how to change the community’s adversarial political culture. They conducted a deliberative action inquiry into their own tones and intentions toward that issue as the starting point to address it, and did deliberative decision-making on that basis. The political reasoning and culture of the group developed during the study, evidenced by the group’s work and changes that participants experienced. The study is the first of its kind in several respects, which are: (a) to use this public discourse process as part of the research methodology, (b) to perform this kind of empirical research on public discourse and deliberation, and (c) to foster political and adult development while addressing complex issues. This extended length research report departs from traditional journal article formats not only by its length but also by integrating its report of findings with analyses of the processes that resulted in the findings. It is complemented by a shorter article in this issue of Integral Review, which describes the steps of the process and the major themes evident in participants’ experience.
Tags: perspectives, political development, transformative learning., Sara Ross, adult development, action inquiry, political culture, hierarchical complexity
Collaborative Knowledge Building and Integral Theory: On Perspectives, Uncertainty, and Mutual Regard
Tom Murray
Abstract: Uncertainty in knowing and communicating affect all aspects of modern life. Ubiquitous and inevitable uncertainty, including ambiguity and paradox, is particularly salient and important in knowledge building communities. Because knowledge building communities represent and evolve knowledge explicitly, the causes, effects, and approaches to this “epistemological indeterminacy” can be directly addressed in knowledge building practices. Integral theory’s approach (including “methodological pluralism”) involves accepting and integrating diverse perspectives in ways that transcend and include them. This approach accentuates the problems of epistemological indeterminacy and highlights the general need to deal creatively with it. This article begins with a cursory analysis of textual dialogs among integral theorists, showing that, while integral theory itself points to leading-edge ways of dealing with epistemological indeterminacy, the knowledge building practices of integral theorists, by and large, exhibit the same limitations as traditional intellectual discourses. Yet, due to its values and core methods, the integral theory community is in a unique position to develop novel and more adequate modes of inquiry and dialog. This text explores how epistemological indeterminacy impacts the activities and products of groups engaged in collaborative knowledge building. Approaching the issue from three perspectives–mutual understanding, mutual agreement, and mutual regard—I show the interdependence of those perspectives and ground them in relation to integral theory’s concerns. This article proposes three phases of developing constructive alternatives drawn from the knowledge building field: awareness of the phenomena, understanding the phenomena, and offering some tools (and some hope) for dealing with it. Though here I focus on the integral theory community (or communities), the conclusions of the article are meant to be applicable to any knowledge building community, and especially value-oriented groups who see themselves fundamentally as working together to benefit humanity.
Tags: integral theory, Tom Murray, Applied epistemology, cognitive psychology, ethics, knowledge building.
