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Social Forces behind Our Backs - Searching for Points of Intervention
Social Forces behind Our Backs - Searching for Points of Intervention
Wednesday, 13 July 2016: 14:15-15:45
Location: Hörsaal 15 (Juridicum)
RC51 Sociocybernetics (host committee) Language: English
Society is clearly man-made, but when we are born into it and start acting, it is a given. Social processes are going on in structures which are given at that moment. Often they go on behind our backs and without being realized, moving society in directions we may not want. Attempts at controlling and steering such social forces have turned out quite ineffective, and organizational actors which, by design, are supposed to do so (like governments) are quite helpless. “Social forces” does not refer to some global conspiracy group, but to the mechanisms and processes built into society at a given moment.
The problem of social forces was presented in previous conferences of RC51. This session is intended to explore to what extent and possibly by what mechanisms, which probably still need to be designed and developed, human intention can effectively influence where society is going, also at the global level.
Welcome are papers which deal with these issues at the local level, the global level or somewhere in between. The key interest should not be on further elaborating the problem description, but searching for points of intervention, where social forces could be influenced noticably. Of high interest is what kind of individual, collective or organizational action and mechanisms might be suitable for this purpose. Welcome are theoretical studies, case studies or any other empirical study dealing with the issues outlined. All contributions should take into account the conditions of dynamics and complexity, under which contemporary organizations operate.
Session Organizer:
Chair: