[p2p-research] Fwd: Organising and Disorganising

Fri Oct 17 11:41:45 CEST 2008

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alison Melvin <alison at triarchypress.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 2:19 PM
Subject: Organising and Disorganising
To: michelsub2004 at gmail.com

<http://www.triarchypress.com>
 October 2008 Dear Michel, <http://www.triarchypress.co.uk/pages/book17.htm>
 * *
*Organising and Disorganising
<http://triarchypress.co.uk/pages/book16.htm>criss-crosses the
conventional divisions between complexity theory, ecology,
sociology, anthropology and political science, weaving an intriguing and
fertile theory of systems behaviour which emphasises dynamical change over
static classification. ** With characteristic wit, **Michael
Thompson**uncovers a plethora of uninhabited intellectual niches for
ambitious
scholars to colonise.*
* *
Following his previous seminal work in this area (see panel on right),
Thompson revisits the fundamental principles of Cultural Theory,
strengthening his arguments and developing new perspectives. He explains how
there are exactly five fundamental forms of societal life: the hierarchical,
the egalitarian, the individualistic, the fatalistic and the autonomous,
each of which is a way of disorganising the other four whilst depending on
them for its existence, or it would have nothing to organise itself against.
Through a range of examples and analogies drawn from his exceptionally broad
experience, the author shows how best outcomes depend upon an essential
argumentative process between these five socio-cultural forms. A flexible
and dynamic organisational theory emerges which exposes the unfortunate
consequences of any single form seeking to dominate the others.

Thompson proceeds to map the theories of Weber, Marx, Maine, Durkheim,
Tönnies, Mary Douglas and others into the broad landscape of Cultural
Theory, identifying 50 distinct varieties of social science on the way.

*This book is important reading in these times of profound structural
change.* It is simultaneously a work of scholarship and a light-hearted,
accessible and illuminating view on a world beset by apparently intractable
problems such as climate change and the credit crunch. These problems
urgently need Thompson's type of solutions and corresponding institutional
forms yet we systematically fail to recognise and support them. This book
helps us to look beyond our own bias towards specific socio-cultural forms
and opens our eyes to new organisational possibilities. Written in a lively
and accessible style, Organising and Disorganising provides a language for
communication across opposing views and a refreshing remedy for ideological
myopia.

*Organising and Disorganising <http://triarchypress.co.uk/pages/book16.htm>:
A Dynamic and Non-Linear Theory of Institutional Emergence and its
Implications* is available at a list price of £25.  But if you order your
copy now, you can get it for just £18.

The author has outlined his approach in Gerard Fairtlough's *No
Secrets!*<http://triarchypress.co.uk/pages/book11.htm>.
We will send a free copy of this title with every order.
   <http://triarchypress.co.uk/telluswhatyouthink/index.htm> Our new titles
all feature the line 'tell us what you think'. So, do visit our
site<http://www.triarchypress.com/TellUsWhatYouThink>and join the
discussion.

 ------------------------------
 <http://www.emergingworldforum.com>

Triarchy Press is proud to partner *2009 Emerging WorldForum* – a rare
chance for executives and managers from multinational organisations to find
new knowledge and best practices in global leadership and change. The Forum
brings together pioneering corporate leaders, renowned academics
and executive consultants to discuss and debate the future of organisational
strategy, management and talent development on the world stage.  *
www.emergingworldforum.com* <http://www.emergingworldforum.com/>
*About Triarchy Press*
*Triarchy Press* <http://www.triarchypress.com/> is an independent publisher
of books and pamphlets focusing on organisations, how they work and the way
we work in them.
 *About the Author:*
 Originally a professional soldier, Dr Michael Thompson studied anthropology
while also following a career as a Himalayan mountaineer. His early research
on how something secondhand becomes an antique, or a rat-infested slum part
of Our Glorious Heritage ("Rubbish Theory", 1979, Oxford University Press)
diverted him into teaching at the Slade School of Fine Art and at Portsmouth
University's School of Architecture, and from there to IIASA where, during
the early 1980s, he worked on the "energy tribes", on risk perception and on
environment and development in the Himalayan Region. A key concept in all
this work was "plural rationality": people doing very different things yet
still behaving perfectly rationally, given their very different sets of
convictions as to how the world is ("Cultural Theory", with Richard Ellis
and Aaron Wildavsky, 1990, West View; "Divided We Stand", with Michiel
Schwarz, 1990, Philadelphia University Press; "Clumsy Solutions for a
Complex World", edited with Marco Verweij, 2006, Palgrave)

Triarchy Press ~ Station Offices ~ Axminster ~ Devon EX13 5PF ~ UK
*T:* 01297 631456 ~ Intl: +44 1297 631456
E: alison at triarchypress.com <mail at triarchypress.com>
*www.triarchypress.com*

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