Rethinking theories of change in the light of enactive cognitive science: Contributions to community-scale local sustainability initiatives.

open access articleSocial innovation projects commonly refer to operationalized theories of change to inform strategy and to deliver intended outcomes. Community based sustainability campaigns, as one example, emphasize the elicitation of pro-environmental activities and decision-making among members of a host community, drawing on mainstream psychological theories of behaviour, motivation and cognitive (mental) processes. Locating an argument within the neurobiological base of structure determinism, this paper explores how theories of change for sustainability campaigns might be reimagined through the lens of enactive theory. Following a brief introduction to the enactive model of embodied cognition, implications associated with trying to operationalize the model to inform how theories of change are mapped out and used in sustainability initiatives are discussed. The paper concludes by drawing on insights from approaches to psychotherapy, which also endeavoured to apply this model of mind, and considers these within the strategic context of sustainability initiatives and public engagement

WHAT IS INFORMATION SUCH THAT THERE CAN BE INFORMATION SYSTEMS?

Information systems, as a discipline, is concerned with the generation, storage and transmission of information, generally by technological means. As such, it would seem to be fundamental that it has a clear and agreed conceptualization of its core subject matter – namely “information”. Yet, we would claim, this is clearly not the case. As McKinney and Yoos point out, in a recent survey of the term information within information systems: “This is the IS predicament – using information as a ubiquitous label whose meaning is almost never specified. Virtually all the extant IS literature fails to explicitly specify meaning for the very label that identifies it.” We live in an information age and the vast majority of information (whatever it may be) is made available through a wide range of computer systems and one would expect therefore that information systems would in fact be one of the leading disciplines of the times rather than one that appears to hide itself in the shadows. Governments nowadays routinely utilize many academic experts to advise them in a whole range of areas but how many IS professors ever get asked? So, the primary purpose of this paper is to stimulate a debate within IS to discuss, and try to establish, a secure foundation for the discipline in terms of its fundamental concept – information. The structure of the paper is that we will firstly review the theories of information used (generally implicitly) within IS. Then we will widen the picture to consider the range of theories available more broadly within other disciplines. We will then suggest a particular approach that we consider most fruitful and discuss some of the major contentious issues. We will illustrate the theories with examples from IS

Is defining life pointless? Operational definitions at the frontiers of Biology

Despite numerous and increasing attempts to define what life is, there is no consensus on necessary and sufficient conditions for life. Accordingly, some scholars have questioned the value of definitions of life and encouraged scientists and philosophers alike to discard the project. As an alternative to this pessimistic conclusion, we argue that critically rethinking the nature and uses of definitions can provide new insights into the epistemic roles of definitions of life for different research practices. This paper examines the possible contributions of definitions of life in scientific domains where such definitions are used most (e.g., Synthetic Biology, Origins of Life, Alife, and Astrobiology). Rather than as classificatory tools for demarcation of natural kinds, we highlight the pragmatic utility of what we call operational definitions that serve as theoretical and epistemic tools in scientific practice. In particular, we examine contexts where definitions integrate criteria for life into theoretical models that involve or enable observable operations. We show how these definitions of life play important roles in influencing research agendas and evaluating results, and we argue that to discard the project of defining life is neither sufficiently motivated, nor possible without dismissing important theoretical and practical research

DOING INFORMATION SYSTEMS: INFORMATIZING AND SYSTEMATIZING FROM A PRACTICE LENS

This study applies the theory of practice to view the information systems (IS) field in terms of its essential activity—what it does as an intellectual enterprise. Drawing from Foucault, Bourdieu, Pickering and other practice theorists, it defines the IS field as continuously informatizing and systematizing its objects of study. Each of these two activities is elaborated into three dimensions: informatizing is characterized as automating, informating, and complexing; systematizing is characterized as analysing/ synthesizing, sensemaking and enacting. These dimensions are mapped into themes that can be characteristically said to be IS research, and based on each of their essential activities, provide a theoretically coherent image of research in IS that connects the dots despite the field’s apparent theoretical diversity and incongruity. Focusing on what the IS field does builds a distinctive identity for the field, opens up possibilities for theorizing the IT artefact and enables IS researchers to theorize not only traditional IS topics, but especially novel, unpredictable, and emergent socio-technical phenomena. By bringing back the IS field to its core concepts—information and system—the performative act of doing IS in both its discursive and non-discursive practices hold the potential for enhancing the intellectual and social relevance of the IS field

Adaptive Regulation in the Amoral Bazaar

Twelfth Oliver Schreiner Memorial Lecture,delivered on 20 October 2010 at the School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Many gradual changes in science, law and society are crystallizing to shape a significant transformation in administrative law. The doctrinal framework within which Justice Schreiner himself attempted to modernize how law should regulate government and private economic activity seems from our vantage point to be quite antiquated. In explaining why, my examples will come from the world of financial services, but they could easily be found anywhere in the area of law and regulation. First I will outline the basic premises of prevailing doctrine and its growing shortcomings. Then I will describe developments in our understanding of the social ecologies through which law and regulation is transfused. I will consider some of the implications for the way in which we need to think about future regulation in order to be more effective in this complex world. We are moving from a framework of directive regulation to one that has to become much more adaptive. While my talk will focus on understanding markets as evolutionary social ecologies, and the consequences this has for administrative law and regulation, it is also important that these amoral bazaars be grounded on a foundation of moral aspiraton and integrity. I will therefore conclude with a reminder that we ignore at our peril the urgent responsibility of redeveloping a moral framework within which markets should operate

Autopoietic interaction systems: micro-dynamics of participation and its limits

This article engages with two published case studies describing participation in planning, a much-discussed aspect of spatial planning. After a brief review of the arguments advanced in the articles, the case studies are reinterpreted using the theory of social autopoiesis as advanced by Niklas Luhman, in particular, one concept from the theory – interaction systems. The re-analysis yields two results: it illustrates the added contribution that the theory can make to understand public participation in spatial planning, but also highlights particular issues in relation to participatory planning and its use in spatial planning

Evaluating a living model of knowledge

The definition of knowledge has always been a contentious issue in knowledge management. Effective knowledge management requires a definition of knowledge that is consistent, useful and true. Whilst most definitions today fulfil the first two criteria, none accurately address all three, including the true, biological nature of knowledge. This is where autopoiesis can help. Autopoiesis was developed to try answer the question of what makes something living, using a scientific methodology. It proposes living things are discrete, self-producing entities and constantly cognising entities. Autopoiesis has long inspired definitions of knowledge, with ideas such as: knowledge cannot be transferred, or knowledge can only be created by the potential ‘knower’. Using the theory of autopoiesis, it is possible to create a biologically grounded model of knowledge, representing the latest thinking in neuroscience. However, before this new, biologically grounded model of knowledge can be integrated into new or existing knowledge management theories, it needs to be tested, else it falls into the trap of being conceptual, and remaining that way. This paper starts with the autopoietic, and therefore biologically, grounded model of knowledge, and develops the new evaluation framework necessary to test the model. The evaluation methodology developed in this research started from the field of programme evaluation and was adapted to meet the needs of the knowledge management discipline. This paper subsequently presents the initial findings from the evaluation process and takes the first steps to identifying how knowledge management can improve with its newly found scientific grounding