Systemic musings

Monday, August 27, 2012

Update on Limits to Growth

I am grateful to David Ing and Nicolas Stampf for alerting me to a useful update and overview on ‘The Limits to Growth’. As David says:

‘what was the message of Limits to Growth? A web video updating the work, in "current language" (e.g. "Human Ecological Footprint" wasn't a phrase they used)'..... has been prepared by the Club of Rome, who developed the original research funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung.

A winter school for 61 young researchers has been funded in Germany in November-December to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the publication of Limits to Growth. Imagine, forty years!!

An open Herrenhausen symposium is also planned to mark this important milestone. Entitled "Already Beyond – 40 Years Limits to Growth“ it will be held on November, 28 and 29, 2012 in Hanover, Germany. Scientists from all over the world are invited to participate. Registration is open until October 31st, 2012.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

China - a systemic update

William Pesek had a systemically illuminating article entitled 'Today's Chinese proverb: he who craves wealth joins the party' in yesterday's business section of The Saturday Age. His, possibly tongue in cheek, conclusion is that 'if the rich keep getting richer at the expense of the poor, China may actually need to go communist'. It is telling that the Gini coefficient for rural China was 0.3949 late last year, close to the 0.4 threshold that UN analysts suggest is the warning level for social unrest. He also claims that China 'hasn't devised a strategy to cut pollution' nor made its leaders more accountable. This is a useful update on reflections of my own posted in earlier blogs.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Frank Fisher - cybersystemicist

Colleague and friend Frank Fisher succumbed to the effects of a brain tumour and passed away Tuesday last (21st August 2012). Fortunately there was time for some celebration of Frank's achievements before his death (held on June 25th though sadly I was not in Melbourne at the time). This included the preparation of a collation of 'Frank Stories' in the form of a book which he had a chance to see and comment upon, although the final version is yet to appear. One of his legacies is the Understandascope website.

When I thought about who I might invite to launch my book, 'Systems Practice: How to Act in Climate-Change World', at the Melbourne Writer's Festival in 2010, Frank was an obvious choice. He was one of the few people I knew in Melbourne who appreciated and enacted cybersystemic understandings. As in all things Frank brought his own idiosyncratic style to the event.

Various postings with their associated comments demonstrate that Frank has significantly influenced the lives of many - he was an educator with the capacity to transform, and transform for the better. In their book 'The Western Intellectual Tradition' Bronowski and Mazlish said (p.353) '..it is the men out of sympathy with the existing university education and government who make the new science'. Whilst they referred to the late 18th century industrial revolution and the Lunar Society Frank's life is testimony that this tradition of critical questioning and acting persists. It is to be hoped that in the not too distant future we can claim that he was a man ahead of his time and at the vanguard of a new form of scholarship more appropriate to our circumstances.

Planet Under Pressure - resources

Since attending the Planet Under Pressure conference in London in March more resources have been posted to the website.

New Systems book

A new Systems book, The Manager's Guide to Systems Practice: Making Sense of Complex Problems [Hardcover] co-authored by Frank Stowell and Christine Welch, has just been published. Any feedback?

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Achievement as avoidance

One of the most delightful moments for me at the recent ASC/BIG conference (which I blogged about earlier) was the acceptance speech of Susan Rose Parenti when awarded the ASC's Warren McCulloch Achievement Award. In her acceptance speech, which she cannot have had long to compose, Susan reframed achievement as avoidance taking a very cybernetic spin on the subject. I commend her speech to viewing.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Puritan Gift

The late Russ Ackoff wrote a foreward to the paperback version of 'The Puritan Gift' (published 2009), written by the Hopper Brothers. The book, which first appeared in 2007 as 'The Puritan Gift: Triumph, Collapse and Revival of an American Dream' was named by the Financial Times one of that year’s Top Ten Business Books. Whilst recommended to me, I have yet to read it. I wonder to what extent it could be claimed that the Hopper Brothers take a systemic perspective?

I note in this review it is claimed that the Hopper brothers argue that: 'As for the bad kind [of capitalism], the brothers blame post-war American business schools, particularly after the 1970s. As curricula became dominated by “financial engineering,” profit and performance were prioritized before all else.'

ASC produces new resources

Ranulph Glanville, ASC President writes to advise that:

'at Asilomar the ASC celebrated Klaus Krippendorff's 80th birthday by publishing a linked directory to his most significant publications that you can download .

You can find an online video of Klaus' Asilomar keynote presentation (including the cutting of his birthday cake towards the end).

We also posted a scan of Klaus's dictionary of cybernetics.

Claudia Westermann made high quality scans of the few issues of Cybernetic that we published in the 1980s. This was an experimental journal that attempted to work (30 years early and in print) as if it were an online journal!

Finally, we asked each member of the ASC to try to introduce at least one new member each year.'

Howard Silverman - reflections on ISSS

Just prior to the ASC/BIG and ISSS conferences I became aware of Howard Silverman's excellent blog called Solving for Pattern. My awareness came from feedback Howard provided on some of my own work. Then we had the chance to meet and chat at the two Californian conferences.

In a reflection on these, Howard writes:

'I appreciate your call at the [ASC] cybernetics conference for greater attention to authentic conversation. That's a high bar -- and by that standard, both conferences fell short. Yet at the same time, i did really enjoy them both, and found them both very welcoming.

ISSS seems kind of quirky to me. Can't quite escape the shadow of its founding giants. Somewhat burdened and exasperated by the ambition to develop a system of systems. Missing a process for incorporating fields -- like, say, network theory -- that have emerged since the Bertalanffy/Boulding era. Split between the positivist-leaning system engineering folks and the more interpretive/critical folks. Yet, despite it all, the power of the original vision attracts new participants, and the opportunity to share a space in that shadow seems to offer ongoing value. It was certainly valuable for me.

By the way, i posted the slides from my talk. One of the main themes i'm exploring is how context shifting -- across organizational, social, and ecosystem contexts -- affects the application of systems approaches.'

Monday, August 13, 2012

Positive media stories: towards 'tipping points'?

I was somewhat taken aback over the weekend when I read in The Weekend Australian an excellent article by Paul Cleary entitled 'One law for the mines...'. It is neither the type of story or perspective I associate with Murdoch's main Australian paper. Cleary's central argument is a good one that goes to the core of on-going systemic failure in governance that, in particular, relates to the biophysical environment. He says:

'As governments have begun approving mega-mines and risky coal-seam gas [CSG] developments, the number of conditions attached to each project has risen inexorably.

Extensive lists of conditions make for impressive press releases from ministers approving projects. Interestingly, though, the mining companies don't complain about the conditions, largely because they know governments rarely enforce them. The reality of Australia's "world's best-practice regulation" is that both state and federal governments lack the willingness and capacity to enforce the environmental limits set out in their approval criteria.'

Regulation is easy to put in place - as are many other traditional policy prescriptions - but as we have shown in our decade or more of research on social learning (an alternative form of governance to that of regulation, education/information and fiscal or market mechanisms) these are hard to monitor, police and enforce. This is why Australians, or citizens of any country where a coal seam or shale gas rush is breaking out, would be well-advised to heed Cleary's arguments. Cleary is a writer for the Australian and author of the new book Mine-Field which 'plots the dubious networks created and greased by mining companies to get their projects through, and exposes regulatory gaps that must be addressed to prevent enormous and irreversible harm to our society and environment.' As he notes in his article, which draws from his latest book:

'In a race to the bottom, mining regulation in Australia is a case of one rule for the miners and gas companies, and another for everyone else.' ......'Drug disasters like thalidomide were quick in their impact, and governments responded, but the potentially damaging effects of CSG projects on groundwater may take decades to show up. In the meantime, state governments will be cashing in on their share of the production revenue via royalty agreements. And, at present, they can't authorise new projects fast enough.'

The assault on the Earth through CSG, the accumulation of toxic wastes, fracking of shale deposits and the like constitute a 'theatre of war' in the Anthropocene. The irony is that it is war with ourselves and one in which all of us humans will ultimately be losers.

In London does the success of Ten Billion – a scientist's one-man show on environmental woes – which has has been an unexpected sell-out hit augur well for a tipping-point breakthrough, or is it yet just another performance in the theatre of the resistance?

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

'I Have the Honor to be, Sir'

After a good many years of research I managed late last year to complete another book in my family history research series:

Ison, R.L. (2011) ‘I have the Honor to be Sir. The Coleman family and their Irish origins’. Self Published. 597p. (ISBN 978-09551270-1-4).

These works are as much about social history as they are about family history. Copies have been placed in the main, relevant Libraries in NSW, WA, Victoria, Tasmania, Canberra, Galway, Dublin, Missouri and London.

From the Preface:

This document is built around the family of Joseph Coleman, my Irish great, great grandfather. It begins in Australia and delves back to Ireland before moving via the USA back to Australia. To a lesser extent, this research is also about the spouses of the Coleman men and women, particularly, for example, Isabella Mercer, my Scottish great, great grandmother and Annie Darcy, wife of Joseph’s brother Daniel Coleman. Despite considerable documentary evidence both of my great, great grandparents, remain somewhat elusive characters – no family members in any of the many branches appear to have compiled or recreated the story of our Coleman ancestors, either in writing or orally. To some extent each generation was the bearer of secrets they did not wish to be known or told. Joseph's arrival in Australia in the 1850s and some aspects of his Irish origins remain a mystery. However, my research has shed considerable light on Joseph’s father, Edward Coleman, fortuitously wounded at the Battle of Akbar in Egypt in 1801. I mean fortuitous in the sense that it gave rise to records which I was able to find. But more importantly it entitled him to a pension which may have been the means by which he and his family survived the famine.

A table of contents follows:

Table of Contents

Preface

Part 1

1. Joseph and Isabella Coleman

1.1. Introduction

1.2 Early years in Australia

1.2.1 Joseph Coleman - arrival

1.2.2 Joseph Coleman – early records

1.2.3 Isabella Mercer

1.2.4 In Tasmania - about 1859 to 1863

1.2.5 Policing at Fingal

1.2.6 Death of Joseph’s father in Ireland

1.2.7 Leaving Tasmania

1.3 Teaching in NSW - a summary

1.3.1 The organization of schools in NSW

1.3.2 St James’s training school and the Church of England schools

1.3.3 Joseph’s first appointment

1.4 Denominational school at North Kurrajong

1.5 Ryde Church of England Denominational School

1.5.1 Conflict between members of the school board and Isabella Colman

1.5.2 Escape to Tasmania

1.5.3 Applying for promotion

1.6 Richmond Church of England Denominational School

1.6.1 The history of the Richmond Denominational school

1.6.2 At Richmond – the benign early years

1.6.3 Disturbing times at Richmond

1.6.4 Reflections on Rev. Dr Woolls

1.7 Moorilda Public School

1.7.1 Appointed as local postmaster

1.7.2 Attending to school matters

1.7.3 Building and making repairs to the school

1.7.4 Difficulties with promotion

1.7.5 Reports relating to Isabella's illness

1.7.6 Influential friends

1.8 Mortdale - Joseph's final school

1.8.1 Joseph and the Mortdale school

1.8.2 Promotion problems again

1.9. Isabella's death and Joseph's remarriage

1.9.1 Joseph's new family

1.9.2 Inspections and other incidents

1.10 Retirement

1.10.1 Joseph's will - and the much talked about legacy

1.11 Unresolved questions

1.12 Main references

1.13 Appendices

1.13.1 Joseph Coleman Family Tree

1.13.2 Glossary of Terms associated with Schools in NSW

Part 2

2. The Coleman Family in Ireland

2.1 Edward Coleman, soldier

2.1.1 North Mayo Militia muster and payroll records

2.1.2 Edward and the 13th Foot

2.2 Coleman records in County Mayo

2.3 Edward Coleman, farmer

2.4 Edward Coleman, husband and father

2.4.1 The D’Arcy family and Clifden Castle

2.4.2 Back to the family records

2.5 Hyacinth D’Arcy and the ‘evangelical milieu’ of Clifden

2.6 The famine in Clifden

2.7 Summing up

2.8 Appendices

2.8.1 Search of National Archives PROCAT, Sunday 17 October, 2005

2.8.2 Posting by Maria Feerick on Genforum:

2.8.3 Continental officers killed, captivated, wounded, and missing, in the

actions of the 16th and 18th of August, 1780 (American War of Independence)

Part 3

3. Daniel Coleman

3.1. Early years in Australia – marriage to Annie Darcy

3.2 In Tasmania - about 1863 - 1871

3.3. Bootmaking and family life in Ballarat

3.4 Children of Daniel Coleman and Annie Darcy

3.4.1 Joseph Jeremiah Coleman

3.4.2 Annie May Coleman

3.4.3 Margaret Coleman

3.4.4 Edward Daniel Coleman

3.4.5 Edith Marian Coleman

3.4.6 Gilbert John Coleman

3.5 Daniel’s remarriage – Emily Wigley

3.6 Coleman and Shiells, ink manufacturer

3.7 Retirement to Melbourne

3.8 The children of Daniel’s second marriage

3.8.1 Alice May Coleman

3.8.2 Harry Richard Coleman

3.9 Concluding thoughts

Part 4

4. Brothers and Sisters of Joseph and Daniel Coleman

4.1 Edward Coleman

4.1.1 The Liberty Non-Sectarian Mission

4.1.2 Sorting out the available records

4.1.3 Edward and Catherine’s children

4.1.4 Other records of interest

4.2 Ann Coleman

4.3 The children of Edward and Bridget Conneely

4.3.1 Patrick Coleman

4.3.2 Thomas Coleman

4.3.3 Margaret Coleman

4.3.4 Daughter (?) Coleman (Mary Anne?)

4.3.5 Stephen Coleman (?)

4.3.6 Val Coleman

4.3.7 Mary Ann Coleman

4.4 Loose ends and unanswered questions

Part 5

5. Edward Hyacinth Joseph Coleman

5.1 Following in his father’s footsteps

5.1.1 Becoming a pupil teacher

5.1.2 Pupil teachers in NSW

5.2 Upper Colo and Wheeny Creek

5.3 Mount Macquarie

5.4 Trunkey Creek

5.4.1 Applying for travelling expenses and a new stove

5.4.2 Complaint against the teacher

5.4.3 Leave to attend mother’s funeral

5.4.4 Arbor day enthusiasm

5.4.5 Dissatisfaction with current situation

5.4.6 Complaints about cruelty 1893-94

5.4.7 Horace Coleman becomes a pupil teacher

5.4.8 Ill-health

5.4.9 Running into debt

5.5 Mulgoa Forest

5.6 Arcadia

5.6.1 Correspondence from the files

5.6.2 Insurmountable debts

5.6.3 The ‘great swindle’

5.6.4 The final unravelling of a 27 year teaching career

5.7 Retirement and death

5.8 The family of Edward Coleman and Lavinia Gee

5.8.1 Horace Coleman

5.8.2 Lavinia Josephine Coleman

5.8.3 Edward Vere Coleman

5.8.4 [Edward] Hyacinth Rupert Coleman

5.8.5. Evelyn Coleman

Part 6

6. Augustus Horatius Arthur Coleman

6.1 Gus's birth and early years

6.2 Gus's teaching career - a summary

6.3 Teaching - the early years

6.3.1 The first school

6.3.2 Blackfriars, St Peters, Hurstville

6.3.3 The Mila incident

6.3.4 Transfer to the central coast and Hunter region

6.3.5 An interest in stories and poetry

6.3.6 Stories from Black Hill

6.4 Marriage and family

6.4.1 Other events at Black Hill

6.5 Leaving NSW and teaching in Western Australia

6.5.1 Belltrees - Gus's last NSW School

6.5.2 Death of Margaret McKimm

6.5.3 The move to the West

6.5.4 To Mogumber

6.5.5 Troubled times

6.5.6 To Nannine

6.5.7 To Rottnest Island

6.6 The return East and the final illness

6.6.1 Matters concerning the children and other correspondence

6.6.2 Gus's death and funeral

6.7 Widowhood and condolences for Jenny

6.7.1 Working to support the family

6.8 Concluding remarks

Part 7

7. Joseph Coleman’s Second Family

7.1 Florence Gibbons Smith

7.2 Eustace Charles St Clair Coleman

7.2.1 Becoming a Minister

7.3 Gladys Josephine Coleman

7.4 Joseph and Florence’s grandsons

7.4.1 Frank Joseph Charles Marjason

7.4.2 Leonard Cecil Marjason

7.4.3 Kenneth William Marjason

Part 8

8. The family of Gus Coleman and Jenny McKimm

8.1 Isobella Dorothy Maude Coleman

8.2 Lilian Margaret May Coleman

8.3 Arthur Joseph Robert (Bill) Coleman

8.4 Edward Victor John Coleman

8.5 Constance Rebecca Mary Coleman