DOCSLIB.ORG

Bogdanov's Tektology, Book 1

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Bogdanov's Tektology, Book 1 BOGDANOV'S TEKTOLOGY Book! foreword by Vadim N. Sadovsky & Vladimir V. Kelle edited with an introduction by Peter Dudley Centre for Systems Studies University of Hull March 1996. FIrst published in Russian, 1913 - 1917 as The Universal Science of Organization (Tektologia). This edition Tektologia: Universal Organizational Science (1989). FIrst published in Great Britain in 1996 by Centre for Systems Studies Press. Translated from the Russian for the Centre for Systems Studies by: Technical editor V. N. Sadovsky. )lndrei~hov Vladimir Kelle Peter Bystrov. Printed in Great Britain for Centre for Systems Studies Press. Copyright © 1996, Centre for Systems Studies Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Dudley, P., (editor), 1996. Bogdanov, A.A., Bogdanov's Tektology. Centre for Systems Studies Press, Hull, UK .. ISBN 0 - 85958 - 876 - 9 Series Introduction Robert L. Flood Tektology is the second in a series of publications from the Centre for Systems Studies at the University of Hull aimed at bringing to the fore in the English language classic texts about systems science from East Europe. This frrst of two volumes is where Bogdanov laid the foundations of his "Universal Organizational Science". Raising the proflle of East European contributions to systems science will realise a number of goals. Five come to mind. Frrst, a more comprehensive knowledge about the nature and extent of systems science will be achieved. Second, the unique contribution of systems thinkers from countries steeped in the tradition of fundamental reasoning about the natural and social worlds will be available for wider theoretical assessment. Third, lessons methodology and systems practice can be drawn from the theoretical writings and operationalised. Fourth, the current most pressing issues faced in systems practice, those of emancipatory practice, can be explored in the domain of East European systemic thought. An fifth, new research issues will surely surface that have been hidden from the English speaking WOrld, thus enriching the research agenda and making much more productive the research output. These contributions alone make the series endeavour a most worthwhile one. Eastern European systems science is one strand of research under active investigation at the Centre for Systems Studies. A similar line of Enquiry is also being pursued with a number of counterparts in the Orient, Africa and Latin America. In addition to this the Centre has Series Introduction: Robert L Flood a core research programme in the area of systems approaches to problem solving. Further details about the research projects underway, staffing, publications, and other general information are available by writing to: The Secretary, Centre for Systems Studies, School of management, The University of Hull, HULL, HU6 7RX, UNITED KINGDOM. Robert L. Flood Director, The Centre for Systems Studies Sir Q. W. Lee Professor of Management Sciences The University of Hull HULL UNITED KINGDOM ii Foreword ALEXANDER ALEXANDROVICH BOGDANOV AND "TEKTOLOGY"I Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov was a prominent Russian philosopher, scientist and political activist the end of the XIX century - and the frrst quarter of the XX. Amongst his numerous scientific achievements, and philosophical conceptions "Tektology", the universal organizational science, is undoubtedly the most significant contribution by Bogdanov to world culture. Not without reason. In Tektology he criticized the philosophical ideas which he propounded at the end of the XIX century and even at the beginning of the XX - including empiriomonism, his main philosophical conception. Bogdanov, until the end of his days, constantly emphasized the radical novelty and universal value of tektology. The name "Bogdanov" was the pseudonym, or, more precisely, one of many, together with "Maximov", "Riadovoy", "Werner", of Alexander Alexandrovich Malinovsky. The pseudonym "Bogdanov" was used by Malinovsky most often, and under this name he was to go down into the history of Russian and world culture. Alexander A. Malinovsky was born on 10th (22nd New Style) August 1873 in the town Sokolka of the prOvince of Grodn02 into the family of a school teacher. He attended the gymnasium (high school) in Tula, and after graduating with a gold medal, entered, in 1893, the Department of Natural Sciences of Moscow University. However, he did not study there long. In December 1894 Bogdanov was expelled iii Foreword: Vadim N. Sadovsky &: Vladimir V. KeUe from the University on account of bis participation in the work of revolutionary students' groups wbicb were under the influence of the ideas of narodism3• Arrested and exiled to the town of Tula, be immediately became involved in revolutionary activities, and soon began to sbare social democratic views. From 1896 Bogdanov was a member of the Russian social-democratic labour party (RSDLP). As a result of Bogdanov's activity, together with other revolutionaries, the social democratic organization was es~blisbed in Tula in 1897. At the same time Bogdanov's literary and scientific activities began. In 1897 be published "A Sbort Course of Economic Science"4 wbicb became, in the pre-revolutionary years, one of the basic textbooks for the study of Marxian economic theory by workers' groups, and went into six editions before 19055• In 1899 Bogdanov graduated from the Medical department of Kbarkov University. In the same year be publisbed bis first extensive pbilosopbical work "Principal Elements of the Historical View of Nature"6 and two years later the second - "Knowledge from the Historical Viewpoint? The last years of the XIX century and the first decade of the XX century was the time of Bogdanov's most intensive revolutionary activity and simultaneously the peak of bis creative work in science and philosopby. A sbort time after graduating from University Bogdanov was arrested for actively promoting social-democratic propaganda, be spent balf a year in Moscow prison, and, as a politically unreliable person, was then exiled; first to the town of Kaluga and then for three years to the town of Vologda. In the spring of 1904, wben bis exile was over, be went to Switzerland wbere he took an active part in the struggle among the leaders of the Russian social democratic movement; i.e. between the mensheviks, beaded by G.Plekbanov and the bolsheviks, beaded by V. LeninB. Decisively, Bogdanov sided iv Foreword: Vadim N. Sadovsky & Vladimir V. Kelle with the bolsheviks and together with them, laid the foundations for the ill RSDLP Congress, in particular, he went to Russia to enlist bolsheviks from the Russian provinces to take part in the Congress. At the ill Congress of the RSDLP (London, April 1905) Bogdanov read several papers and was elected to the higher body of the RSDLP - the Central Committee, to which he was re-elected at the IV (1906) and V (1907) RSDLP Congresses. Bogdanov took an active part in the FIrst Russian revolution in 1905, he was a member of the Executive committee of the Petersburg Soviet of Labour Deputies. After the defeat of the revolution he was arrested. On release from prison he reverted again to revolutionary activity, and in 1907 went abroad where he, together with V.I.Lenin and I.F.Dubrovinsky, formed the team which edited the central organ of the bolshevik press "Proletarian". During that time a bitter argument between Bogdanov and Lenin flared up - ftrst, on issues of the tactics of the Russian social democrats in relation to the defeat of the FIrst Russian revolution, and then - and here the positions of the disputing parties were irreconcilable - on the problems of treating the essence and paths of the development of Marxian philosophy. Lenin gained victory over Bogdanov in this debate, in any case he was supported by the other influential ftgures of Russian social democracy. As a result, in July 1909 Bogdanov was taken off the editorial board of "Proletarian" and Bolsheviks' Centre, and in January 1910 at the Plenary session of the Central Committee of RSDLP he was expelled from the Central Committee of the party. In 1909 Bogdanov together with those who had a similar way of thinking, including the well-known writer A.M.Gorky, the influential member of RSDLP and literary man A.V.Lunacharsky, and others, organized the "High Social-Democratic School" on Capri (Italy), and later the group "Vpered" "Forward") separated from Lenin's v Foreword: Vadim N. Sadovsky &: Vladimir V. Kelle "Proletarian", pursuing aims of the cultural education of tbe proletariat on the basis of Bogdanov's idea of "proletarian culture". Neither of these enterprises found success: at the Capri scbool there were constant political debates and eventually the majority of workers-revolutionaries there went to join Lenin in Paris; "Vpered", under influence of one of its members - GAlexinsky - started an open campaign against the Central Committee of the RSDLP, and Bogdanov was forced to leave, moreover, be withdrew completely from practical political activity and entirely concentrated upon realization of his creative - scientific and philosopbical- plans. Pbilosopbical discussions in 1907-1910 among the leaders of Russian social-democratic labour party of the time not only greatly influenced the personal fate of Bogdanov but also to a great extent
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Aleksandr Bogdanov and Systems Theory
    Democracy & Nature, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2000 Aleksandr Bogdanov and Systems Theory ARRAN GARE ABSTRACT The signi cance and potential of systems theory and complexity theory are best appreciated through an understanding of their origins. Arguably, their originator was the Russian philosopher and revolutionary, Aleksandr Bogdanov. Bogdanov anticipated later developments of systems theory and complexity theory in his efforts to lay the foundations for a new, post-capitalist culture and science. This science would overcome the division between the natural and the human sciences and enable workers to organise themselves and their productive activity. It would be central to the culture of a society in which class and gender divisions have been transcended. At the same time it would free people from the deformed thinking of class societies, enabling them to appreciate both the limitations and the signi cance of their environments and other forms of life. In this paper it is argued that whatever Bogdanov’s limitations, such a science is still required if we are to create a society free of class divisions, and that it is in this light that developments in systems theory and complexity theory should be judged. Aleksandr Bogdanov, the Russian revolutionary, philosopher and scientist, has a good claim to being regarded as the founder of systems theory.1 His ‘tektology’, that is, his new science of organisation, not only anticipated and probably in uenced the ideas of Ludwig von Bertalanffy—who must have been familiar with his work,2 but anticipated many of the ideas of the complexity theorists. As Simona Poustlinik commented at a recent conference on Bogdanov: It is remarkable the extent to which Bogdanov anticipated the ideas which were to be developed in systems thinking later in the twentieth century.
    [Show full text]
  • A. Bogdanov Ft Q » Ft 1Ft * Ft Mil If Ft Ft «! Qy J{L W Cft
    ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY George Gorelik ft j{l * w A. Bogdanov 1ft . BOGDANOV • ESSAYS IN TEKTOLOGY » «! Cft Qy ft Q ft ft ft If mil THE SYSTEMS INQUIRY SERIES INTERSYSTEMS PUBLICATIONS ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY George Gorelik A. Bogdanov in THE SYSTEMS INQUIRY SERIES PUBLISHED BY INTERSYSTEMS PUBLICATIONS Copyright © 1980 of the English Translation by Intersystems Publications No part of this book may be quoted or reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except for classroom use or inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Published in the United States o f America by Intersystems Publications (Seaside, California 93955) PRINTED IN U.S.A. THE SYSTEMS INQUIRY SERIES COEDITOKS Bela H. Banathy George Klir Systems inquiry is grounded in a philosophical base of a systems view of the world. It has formulated theoretical postulates, con­ ceptual images and paradigms, and developed strategies and tools of systems technology. Systems inquiry is both conclusion orien­ ted (knowledge production) and decision oriented (knowledge utilization). It uses both analytic and synthetic modes of thinking and it enables us to understand and work with ever increasing complexities that surround us and which we arc part of. The series aims to encompass all three domains of systems inquiry: systems philosophy, systems theory and systems technology. Con­ tributions introduced in the series may focus on any one or com­ binations of these domains or develop and explain relationships among domains and thus portray the systemic nature of systems inquiry. Five kinds of presentations are considered in the scries: (1) original work by single author, (2) edited compendium organized around a common theme, (3) edited proceedings of symposia or colloquy, (4) translations from the original works, and (5) out of print works of special significance.
    [Show full text]
  • Systems Seduction: the Aesthetics of Decentralisation
    Journal of Design and Science Systems Seduction: The Aesthetics of Decentralisation Gary Zhexi Zhang Published on: Nov 03, 2018 DOI: 10.21428/2bfc3a68 License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0) Journal of Design and Science Systems Seduction: The Aesthetics of Decentralisation “Ecology in the widest sense turns out to be the study of the interaction and survival of ideas and programs (i.e. differences, complexes of differences) in circuits.” Gregory Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind1 How do we deal with unimaginable complexity? Today, the prospect of ecological crisis looms over our every move, as new technologies unfurl absentmindedly into the political realm, somehow managing to disrupt a biosphere in the process. In so many areas of art and science, our situation demands that we think in terms of heterogenous systems and porous boundaries. Today, as the artist Hito Steyerl once put it, ‘an upload comes down as a shitstorm.’2 The 1972 publication of The Limits to Growth, which warned that the world system would collapse in 100 years given ‘business as usual’, served timely, epochal notice on our vision of exponential ‘progress’. Moreover, its use of Jay Forrester’s ‘World3’ model of planetary systems dynamics prefigured of our contemporary obsession with data and simulation for understanding where we are, and where we’re headed. As Joi Ito’s manifesto suggests, the once-unpopular interdisciplinary science of cybernetics has returned as a paradigm through which to understand knotted social, technological and environmental issues. A cybernetic vision of open systems and regulatory feedback seems to offer a conceptual schema with through we might negotiate a more hopeful future, or at very least, weather the shitstorm.
    [Show full text]
  • Systems Theory and Complexity Introduction
    Democracy & Nature, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2000 Systems Theory and Complexity Introduction ARRAN GARE ABSTRACT In this paper the central ideas and history of complexity theory and systems theory are described. It is shown how these theories lend themselves to different interpretations, and different interpretations lead to different political conclusions. 1. Introduction At the turn of the millennium, the study of complex systems has become one of the most prominent elds of scienti c study. This is, according to those engaged in it, a revolution of major proportions. ‘Science has explored the microcosmos and the macrocosmos’, wrote Heinz Pagels in The Dreams of Reason, ‘The great unexplored frontier is complexity’.1 But according to some of the more radical complexity theorists, there is more to complexity than an unexplored domain. While previously science had struggled to reveal the simple behind the complex, it is now being suggested by some theorists that the world is irreducibly complex. The task before us is no longer to identify the simple elements of reality underlying complex appearances but to work out how to study complexity in its own right. A whole range of phenomena, previously disregarded by mainstream science, has become the central focus of some of the world’s most eminent scientists. Instead of being taken as the foundation of science, simplicity is now coming to be regarded by some theorists as one of the products of complexity.2 Almost every discipline from physics and chemistry to neurobiol- ogy, economics, politics and history has been forced to confront the issues raised by complexity theorists and to explore the relevance of their ideas.
    [Show full text]
  • John Biggart the Rehabilitation of Bogdanov1
    John Biggart The Rehabilitation of Bogdanov 1 Between 1985 and 1991 the Communist Party of the Soviet Union under its General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev lifted restrictions on freedom of expression in the Soviet Union, virtually abolished censorship of the press, and set in motion the reform process which in August 1991 would bring about the ending of Communist Party rule. 2 One of the objectives of Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost’ was to encourage more free enquiry into the history of the Soviet régime, and, in particular, to dissociate the Party from many of Stalin’s policies of the late 1920s to 1950s. 3 In the evolution of this policy, the 70th anniversary of the October Revolution, was a landmark. 4 Following the Plenum of the Central 1 This is an edited version of the Introduction to: Bogdanov and his Work. A guide to the published and unpublished works of Alexander A. Bogdanov (Malinovsky 1973—1928) , edited by John Biggart, Georgii Gloveli and Avraham Yassour. Ashgate. 1998. [ISBN 1 85972 6321 2]. The introduction has not been updated to take account of the substantive amount of work that has been published on Bogdanov since 1998. Only in a few instances have later works been referred to for purposes of correction or clarification. 2 On the abolition of censorship, see Richard Sakwa, Gorbachev and his reforms 1985-1990 (London, New York, 1990), p.67. The Main Administration of Literature and State Publishing - Glavlit - lost its censorship functions in June 1986. 3 As early as September 1985, Professor Yuri Afanasiev of the Institute of World History of the Academy of Sciences was able to denounce the turpitude of the historical profession in the Communist Party journal Kommunist .
    [Show full text]
  • Aleksandr Bogdanov and Systems Theory
    Democracy & Nature, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2000 Aleksandr Bogdanov and Systems Theory ARRAN GARE ABSTRACT The signi cance and potential of systems theory and complexity theory are best appreciated through an understanding of their origins. Arguably, their originator was the Russian philosopher and revolutionary, Aleksandr Bogdanov. Bogdanov anticipated later developments of systems theory and complexity theory in his efforts to lay the foundations for a new, post-capitalist culture and science. This science would overcome the division between the natural and the human sciences and enable workers to organise themselves and their productive activity. It would be central to the culture of a society in which class and gender divisions have been transcended. At the same time it would free people from the deformed thinking of class societies, enabling them to appreciate both the limitations and the signi cance of their environments and other forms of life. In this paper it is argued that whatever Bogdanov’s limitations, such a science is still required if we are to create a society free of class divisions, and that it is in this light that developments in systems theory and complexity theory should be judged. Aleksandr Bogdanov, the Russian revolutionary, philosopher and scientist, has a good claim to being regarded as the founder of systems theory.1 His ‘tektology’, that is, his new science of organisation, not only anticipated and probably in uenced the ideas of Ludwig von Bertalanffy—who must have been familiar with his work,2 but anticipated many of the ideas of the complexity theorists. As Simona Poustlinik commented at a recent conference on Bogdanov: It is remarkable the extent to which Bogdanov anticipated the ideas which were to be developed in systems thinking later in the twentieth century.
    [Show full text]
  • BOGDANOV's TEKTOLOGY: a SCIENCE of CONSTRUCTION Simona Poustilnik______
    ALEKSANDR BOGDANOV'S TEKTOLOGY: A SCIENCE OF CONSTRUCTION Simona Poustilnik_________________________________________________________ Russian Darwinism developed without Malthus – without the struggle for existence. There is a remarkable link connecting the understanding of the Russian Darwinists of “natural podbor” as ‘fine-tuning’ by nature and Bogdanov’s concept of tektological ‘podbor’ (‘assembling’) as the universal mechanism of the construction of any organization. Bogdanov’s conception of the universal phenomenon of ‘organization’ as an expedient combination of active elements, and his attempt to construct a collective tektological ‘personality-organization’ possessed a conceptual creative power and influenced the work of the Soviet Constructivists. Conceptions of ‘assembling’ similar to those expressed in Tektology provided Constructivists with a scientific rationale, projects and terminology for their experiments in a new ‘production art’. They constructed expedient and functional art objects from a tektological point of view - as organizational art objects. Poustilnik_______________A SCIENCE OF CONSTRUCTIONS______________Page 1 of 17 …the symbols and formulas of the Glass Bead Game combined structurally, musically, and philosophically within the framework of a universal language, were nourished by all the sciences and arts, and strove in play to achieve perfection, pure being, the fullness of reality (Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game) “Furor tectologicus” Rephrasing René Descartes, Aleksandr Bogdanov once said of himself: “I
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix a the Mathematics of Discontinuity
    Appendix A The Mathematics of Discontinuity On the plane of philosophy properly speaking, of metaphysics, catastrophe theory cannot, to be sure, supply any answer to the great problems which torment mankind. But it favors a dialectical, Heraclitean view of the universe, of a world which is the continual theatre of the battle between ‘logoi,’ between archetypes. René Thom (1975, “Catastrophe Theory: Its Present State and Future Perspectives,” p. 382) Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth, nor does lightning travel in a straight line. Benoit B. Mandelbrot (1983, The Fractal Geometry of Nature, p. 1) A.1 General Overview Somehow it is appropriate if ironic that sharply divergent opinions exist in the mathematical House of Discontinuity with respect to the appropriate method for analyzing discontinuous phenomena. Different methods include catastrophe theory, chaos theory, fractal geometry, synergetics theory, self-organizing criticality, spin glass theory, and emergent complexity. All have been applied to economics in one way or another. What these approaches have in common is more important than what divides them. They all see discontinuities as fundamental to the nature of nonlinear dynam- ical reality.1 In the broadest sense, discontinuity theory is bifurcation theory of which all of these are subsets. Ironically then we must consider the bifurcation of bifurcation theory into competing schools. After examining the historical origins of this bifurcation of bifurcation theory, we shall consider the possibility of a recon- ciliation and synthesis within the House of Discontinuity between these fractious factions. J.B. Rosser, Complex Evolutionary Dynamics in Urban-Regional 213 and Ecologic-Economic Systems, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-8828-7, C Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 214 Appendix A A.2 The Founding Fathers The conflict over continuity versus discontinuity can be traced deep into a variety of disputes among the ancient Greek philosophers.
    [Show full text]
  • Bogdanov's Tektology:Its Nature, Development and Influence
    GEORGE GORELIK BOGDANOV'S TEKTOLOGY:ITS NATURE, DEVELOPMENT AND INFLUENCE A. Bogdanov [pseudonym of Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Malinovskii (1873- 1928)] was an important interpreter of the social upheavals and the out- burst of scientific discoveries which mark the turn of the century. The developments in science and technology, political and social practice, which were initiated in Bogdanov's time have, of course, proceeded apace in our century. Where the social cataclysms and the rapid pace of scientific and technological discoveries will finally lead few would be so foolhardy as to predict. This uncertainty is all the more reason for us to study the revolutions taking place in science and society at the turn of the century, in order to gain clear sense of our present bearings. Bogdanov, as a key interpreter of these changes, can teach us much. His splendid edifice of thought, which has great intrinsic worth, should also command our historical attention. His greatest work, the 3 volume treatise Tektology: The Universal Organizational Science [20], represents a synthesis and epitome of this many-faceted yet unified thought. This is the work which undoubtedly has most to say to us. There is no need to outline the basic concepts of tektology here, since they have adequately been covered elsewhere [32, 33]. The reader interested in and as yet unacquainted with Bogdanov's thought should consult Essays in Tektology 1 [19], Bogdanov's own condensation and revision of his monumental Tektologia. 2 I shall limit myself in this paper to a discussion of (1) the nature of tektology, (2) the growth and development of Bogdanov's tektological thought and (3) its impact, suppression and influence.
    [Show full text]
  • General Systems * * * Red Cybernetics Black Physical Sciences Originated in 1996 by Dr
    Some Streams of Systemic Thought KEY: (Draft update — May 2001) white general systems * * * red cybernetics black physical sciences Originated in 1996 by Dr. Eric Schwarz, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Extended in 1998, including items from the The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant (1933). blue mathematics Elaborated in 2000-2001 from many sources for the International Institute for General Systems Studies. magenta computers & informatics Currently a research project of the IIGSS. green biology & medicine - - - yellow symbolic systems This rendition is the property of the International Institute for General Systems Studies. orange social systems All Rights Reserved. olive ecology Errors and omissions in this chart are solely attributable to the IIGSS. gray philosophy cyan systems analysis purple engineering International Encyclopedia of Systems & Cybernetics Charles François 1997 Teleonics Multi-Methodology Gyuri Jaros John Mingers General Systems Theory Yi Lin Genomics General Tropodynamics Social Entropy Theory Co-creative Process Craig Venter, Cultural Hector Sabelli Hegemony Systems Semiotics Soucheng OuYang, Yi Lin Kenneth D. Bailey Francis Collins USA Luis Rocha, Systemic Perspectivism Critical Physics Cosmological Howard Pattee Superstrings Topology of Evolutionary Ronald W. Moses Physics Brian Greene, et al Grand Unified Treories Meaning Knotted Systems Philosophy Steven Weinberg Stephen Hawking R. Ian Flett Louis Kauffman Systemic Development Punctuated Evolution Richard L. Coren Pansystems Informational Fuzzy Systemics Cyber-semiotics Blown Up Systems Richard Bawden Stephen J. Gould Synergy Grey Systems Microdynamics Evolutionary Wu Xuemou Positivism Self-organized Anti-chaos & Vladimir Dimitrov Søren Brier Shoucheng OuYang Homeorheotic Peter A. Corning Sifeng Liu, Yi Lin Vladimir Lerner Artificial Life World Wide Web Systems Richard Dawkins Economics Adaptation Complex Evolutionary Total Systems Whole Systems Chris Langton Tim Berners-Lee Interpretive William Irwin W.
    [Show full text]
  • BOGDANOV, the LIVING EXPERIENCE and the SYSTEMIC CONCEPT of the ENVIRONMENT Giulia Rispoli______
    SHARING IN ACTION: BOGDANOV, THE LIVING EXPERIENCE AND THE SYSTEMIC CONCEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT Giulia Rispoli____________________________________________________ This paper discusses the novelty of Aleksandr Bogdanov’s approach, which combines the systemic and cybernetic perspectives employed in his Tektology, the general science of organization (1913–1922). In this work Bogdanov places particular emphasis on the concept of the environment and situates the process of ‘organization’ in a shared social context. The interaction among social agents, and between them and their contextual surroundings, implies a cybernetic relationship. The environment is, in fact, regarded both in terms of its influence in shaping human living conditions and in its plasticity in being transformed by human labour for specific purposes. Likewise, in Tektology, Bogdanov considers not only the social context but also biological and ecological systems that foster an emergent relationship between organisms and their environments. On the one hand, the environment favours biological organisms most well adapted to its conditions; on the other hand, the environment is seen as a portion of space (ecosystem) in which populations live and continuously modify the biogeochemical conditions of that system. By referring to biological, ecological and cognitive levels of cybernetic organization, I argue that Bogdanov’s tektological polymorphic idea of the environment embraces different dimensions of the systemic discourse, and can also be useful to understand the process of knowledge creation underlying the idea of a proletarian culture. Culture as Organization in Early Soviet Thought: Bogdanov, Eisenstein, and the Proletkult Editor-in-Chief: Pia Tikka Editorial Board: John Biggart Vesa Oittinen Giulia Rispoli Maja Soboleva Rispoli________________________SHARING IN ACTION _____________________1 of 13 One or more ways to represent the world Contemporary interpretations of Bogdanov as a pioneer of cybernetics and systems theory see his contributions only as precursors to later perspectives.
    [Show full text]
  • General System Theory Ludwig Von Bertalanffy
    Crowd Sourcing Jeff Howe [2006] International Encyclopedia of Mark Robinson Systems & Cybernetics Daren C. Brabham Charles François Generic System Model Augmented Environments 1997 Teleonics Generic Agency Theory Beat Hirsbrunner [2016] Human Centered Design Multi-Methodology Gyuri Jaros General Systems Theory Maurice Yolles John Mingers Conversational Design Yi Lin Gerhard Fink [2014] General Tropodynamics Hugh Dubberly Genomics Soucheng OuYang, Yi Lin Paul Pangaro Craig Venter, Social Entropy Theory Co-creative Process Cultural Human based Computation Hector Sabelli Francis Collins interactive Evolutionary Human-Centered Kenneth D. Bailey Systemic Knowledge Cybernetics Hegemony Generic Coordination Model Systems Semiotics Computation Computing Perspectivism Maurice Yolles [2006] USA Beat Hirsbrunner Luis Rocha, Michele Courant Topology of Howard Pattee Meaning R. Ian Flett Knotted Systems Ubiquitous Computing Systemic Development Critical Physics Punctuated Evolution Pansystems Informational Louis Kauffman Mark Weiser [1991] Cyber-semiotics Blown Up Systems Richard Bawden Ronald W. Moses Stephen J. Gould Synergy Grey Systems Wu Xuemou Microdynamics Evolutionary Cosmological Søren Brier Shoucheng OuYang Superstrings Peter A. Corning Sifeng Liu, Yi Lin Vladimir Lerner Positivism Self-organized Anti-chaos & Computer-Supported Objective/Subjective Evolutionary Physics Homeorheotic Total Systems Brian Greene, et al Complex Evolutionary Richard Dawkins Economics Adaptation Cooperative Work (CSCW) Coordination Philosophy Grand Unified Treories
    [Show full text]