Cybernetic Revolutionaries

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Cybernetic Revolutionaries Index Page numbers in italics indicate illustrations and those followed by “t” indicate tables. Abbate, Janet, 64 on individual freedom, 39, 214 Ackoff, Russell, 252n49 last meeting with Beer (1973), 202 Action, management cybernetics and, 25, 33, on Marx, 39 68, 71, 265n4 military coup against, 208–209, 242n5 Action Technologies, 232 National Stadium address (1971), 45–46 Adaptation, management cybernetics and, 71 political career, 44 Adaptive control portrayals of, 10, 257n3 Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety, 28, 166, Socialist Party, 243n3 229, 253n57, 296n17 socialist vision of, 3–4, 39 Beer on, 16–17, 26–29 speech to inaugurate Cybersyn operations functioning of, 28 room, 168, 285n85 Adas, Michael, 242n3 UNCTAD III, 100–101, 107 Adler, Emmanuel, 241n3 U.S. response to election of, 5, 45 Agriculture, economic information from, 105 visit to operations room, 1, 168 Aguirre Cerda, Pedro, 237 Allende government, 2, 3, 5, 15–16. See also ALBAstryde, 294n3 Popular Unity Alder, Ken, 7 announcement of government control over Alessandri, Arturo, 237 distribution of essential goods (1973), 174 Alessandri, Jorge, 44, 238–239 Christian Democrats and, 84 “Algedonic meters,” 89, 90, 91, 167, 270n76 computer resources and, 61–62 “Algedonic signal,” 39, 119, 120 , 192 computing power available to, 55 Algerian government, cybernetic project for, and democratic socialism, 16, 17, 30, 31, 39, 295n8 41, 63, 72, 93, 213 Allende Gossens, Salvador female marchers, 76 Beer letter to (1973), 202 fi rst year, 50–55 death of, 208 Flores in, 142, 151–153, 154, 171, 189, 203, election of, 3, 15, 44 218, 229, 231 fi rst meeting with Beer (1971), 75–76 goals of, 4, 5 Flores and, 208 military coup against, 208–209, 242n5 310 Index Allende government (continued) Baby Brousse (Citroën), 108 nationalization efforts, 5, 15, 16, 50–53, 137, Bach, Richard, 98 195 Balmaceda, Eugenio, 131–132 and 1973 elections, 185 Banks, nationalization of, 51, 54 October Strike, 141–169 Barquín, Ramón, 241n3 opposition tactics against, 291n91 Barrientos, Jorge, 47, 98, 225 political struggles (1972), 66, 82–83, 95, 96 BASF, 187 political vision of, 3–4 Bastos Tigre, Paulo, 241n3 portrayals of, 10 Bateson, Gregory, 219 pro-government propaganda, 145, 158 BDA. See Business Design Associates and Project Cybersyn, 5, 164–165 Beca, Raimundo, 71, 290n67 public reevaluation of (2003), 242n5 Beer, Simon, 167 on science and technology, 65 Beer, Stafford, xvi, 17–20, 248nn8–14, second truck drivers’ strike, 202–203 249nn15–22 second year of, 76, 82 “algedonic meters,” 89, 90, 91, 167, 270n76 union leaders and, 260n39 “algedonic signals,” 39, 119, 120 , 192 U.S. anti-Allende activities, 92–93, 105–106, author’s meeting with, 223–224, 224 243n5 Cañete and, 83, 185, 219 Alliance for Progress, 5, 57, 257n6, 262n62 Cardoso and, 196 “Americanization,” 261n55 change in outlook after October Strike, Améstica, Fernando, 86, 97, 135, 269n54 153–154, 154 , 155 , 156–165 Anderson, Jack, 92–93 on CHECO team, 107 Anderton, Ron, 82, 86, 87, 101, 104, 105, 106, Chilean colleagues and, 48, 225 173, 268n43, 269n63 Chilean socialism and, 30, 41 Antú television (IRT), 108 on Chilean workers, 131, 159–160, 161, Araya, Arturo, 202 162–163, 164 Ariztía, Francisco, 289n62 on computers and technology, 29, 30, 62 ARPA, 64, 250n34 computers fi rst available to, 55, 61–62, 65 ARPANET, 64 consulting requests from other governments, Arthur Andersen and Company, 78, 88, 101, 208, 225–226 102–103, 266n25, 267n29 on control room (Opsroom), 33, 34, 115, Ashby, W. Ross, 22, 24, 27, 157, 219, 250n34 179, 276n70 Introduction to Cybernetics , 254nn58,61 on CORFO, 54, 159 Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety, 28, 166, 228, on cybernetic management, 24–29, 54–55, 253n57, 296n17 158 Aston Business School, 226 on cybernetics, 11, 16–17, 20, 27, 29, 158, Austin, J. L., 231 171, 252n48 Automation and labor, 160–161 death, 226 Automobiles on DYNAMO, 82, 104, 272n22 Citroën, 108, 109, 273n34 early work, 17, 32–33 state control of Chilean auto industry, 143 Espejo and, 180, 181, 183, 187, 188, 194– Autonomy, 287n33 195, 225, 226, 258n21, 272n22 Autopoiesis, 200–201, 219, 293n110 family, 18, 156–157, 224 Avilés, Hernán, 104, 105 fi rst meeting with Allende (1971), 75–76 Index 311 Flores and, 31, 32, 40–41, 43, 47, 48, 49, 54, on Soviet approach to cybernetic manage- 68, 71, 74, 76, 77–78, 83, 98–99, 134–135, ment, 63–64, 69, 182 176, 180, 225, 229, 230 on technocracy, 179–180 Garretón and, 49–50 travels to Chile, 1–2, 45–49, 69, 75–76, 85– Goodman lecture (1973), 172, 177–181 87, 97–98, 137, 141, 157–158, 173–174, on government, 33, 39, 158, 164 193, 197–202, 292n97 Hanlon on, 182 at United Steel, 18 helps Chilean friends, 225 Viable System Model ( see Viable System on individual freedom, 30, 39, 173 Model) invitation to Chile, 15, 16, 32, 43 von Foerster and, 284n77 at IPC, 19 Wiener and, 249n17, 253n50 in Las Cruces, 197–202, 292n97 writings, 16, 17, 19, 31, 223, 224–225 last meeting with Allende (1973), 202 Beyond Dispute , 208, 233 letter to Allende (1973), 202 Brain of the Firm , 34, 48, 75, 85, 153, 198, Liberty Machine, 32–34, 40, 55, 62, 88, 201–202, 224, 255n80, 256n90, 285n86 255n72 “Cybernetic Notes on the Effective Organi- life after Project Cybersyn, 223–226, zation of the State with Particular Refer- 248nn6,8 ence to Industrial Control,” 70 management style, 99–100 Cybernetics and Management , 19, 29, 31, 81, Marxism and, 282n53, 292n99 249n17 Massey Lectures, 198 “Cybernetics of National Development,” on nationalization, 51, 52, 54 225 on October Strike, 142, 168 Decision and Control , 19, 31, 47–48, 163, on operations research, 19, 33–34, 73, 130, 298n35 252nn48–49 Designing Freedom , 298n35 outlook in 1973, 171–172 Diagnosing the System for Organization , Parra on, 133–134 255n80 payment by Chilean government, 77, 92, 157 “Fanfare for Effective Freedom: Cybernetic personal archives, x Praxis in Government” (lecture), 181, photos of, 18 , 49, 100, 224 286n19 “Programme Beat-the-Clock,” 135, 136 , 137 Five Principles for the People toward Good on Project Cybersyn, 93, 95, 97–98, 142, Government , 135 144–145, 162–163, 172, 178–182, Heart of the Enterprise , 255n80, 264n2, 207–208, 216 266n18 psychiatry and, 25 Management Science , 34 public announcement of Project Cybersyn, “On Decybernation,” 193–194 145, 172–173, 285n3 “One Year of (Relative) Solitude: The Second response to Science for People , 192–193, Level of Recursion” (1972 report), 158, 289n55, 291n77 159, 162, 163, 164 on revolution, 15, 40 Platform for Change , 32, 33, 223, 255n70, Rosenhead on, 17, 18, 192, 193 298n35 Schwember and, 142, 152, 166, 180, 188, “Project Cyberstride,” 70–71 226–227 “Status Quo” (unpublished), 198–200, 200 , at SIGMA, 18–19, 30, 34, 248n11 201, 292n103, 293nn109–110 312 Index Beer, Stafford (continued) on nationalization, 137 “This Runaway World—Can Man Gain on operations room, 121, 275n66, 285n86 Control?,” 40 on political situation, 96, 195 “World in Torment,” 225 and telex network, 77, 86, 98, 269n56 Benadof, Isaquino, 61 as translator, 47, 49, 74 on adaptive control, 211 Capdevilla, Guillermo, 110, 112, 113 on Arthur Andersen consultants, 102 Capitalism, Beer on, 199–200, 293n110 Project Cyberstride, 79, 86, 103, 135, 234 Cárcamo, Lautaro, 47 wife of, 87–88 Cardoso, Fernando Henrique, 196 Bigelow, Julian, 21, 249n26 Carmona, Eddy, 111, 112 Bill, Max, 274n40 Castro, Fidel, 46–47, 76, 77 BIMA lumber mill, 53, 54 Centralized or decentralized control. See also Bitar, Sergio, 174, 229, 291n91, 296n17 Viable System Model Black box, 27, 35, 253n53 Beer on, 16 Boal, Augusto, 283n61 Simon on, 254n64 Teatro del oprimido , 283n61 CEREN, 92, 270n78 Bonsiepe, Gui, 47, 49, 113 Chan, Anita, 241n3 at Catholic University, 111 CHECO (Chilean Economic Simulator) Flores and, 112 background of, 6, 81–83, 86–87 at INTEC, 112–113, 114 Goodman lecture discussion of, 179 Project Cybersyn role, 88, 98, 124 implementation of, 96, 103–107, 152, 167 at the Ulm School, 110–111, 274nn41–45 project team, 103, 104, 171 Bossel, Hartmut, 227 scope of, 284n80 Brain software for, 104–107, 284n80 cybernetics and, 24–25 technology transfer from Britain, 103, 106 Viable System Model and, 36, 37–39, 246n18 Chicago Boys, 211 Braverman, Harry, 160–161, 183, 282n53 Chile. See also Allende government Labor and Monopoly Capital , 160, 282n53 Allende’s vision for, 3–4 Buckley, Eve, 241n3 bureaucracy in, 88 Bureaucracy computers in, 8–12, 55–64, 187, 237–239, under Allende, 291n87 263n74 Beer on, 88, 201, 219, 293n109 Cuba and, 46–47 Burroughs computers, 56, 60t, 64, 103 cybernetics in, 8–12, 30–32, 67–68, 166–167, Business Design Associates (BDA), 232, 218, 219 298n39 dependency theory applied to, 66, 67 earthquake (1939), 237 CADE, 47 economic management Calculating machines, 55–56, 237, 238, CHECO, 86, 87, 103–107, 129, 152, 167, 245n15 171, 179, 267n35, 284n80 Callon, Michel, 244n12 computers under Frei, 58–59, 61 Cañete, Roberto, 47 data collection, 104–105, 131, 138 on Flores, 83 El Arrayán meeting, 83–85 life after Project Cybersyn, 225, 295n8 factory productivity and, 73 Index 313 Flores and, 67–68 compensation to foreign investors, 54 Frei government and, 57–58, 242n1 Decree of 1932, 51–52 government control over essential goods Garretón and, 49 distribution, 174 interventors, 51, 52, 53 industrial sectors, 51 management cybernetics and, 43–44, 54–55 interventors, 51, 52, 53, 72, 73 management of enterprises and, 51–53 modeling of industrial production, 129–133 Mixed and Social Property Areas, 50, 51, 53 nationalization and, 5, 15, 16, 51–55, 137 normas básicas
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