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A systems theoretical reconceptualisation of certain parts of alienation theory is considered. Two opposed forms of alienation are distinguished, interpersonal alienation and societal alienation. Political alienation is described as a subform of societal alienation which does not necessarily correlate with the different forms of interpersonal alienation, as is often assumed. Alienation is viewed as a generic term for information processing problems of individuals.

Focuses on the issue of increasing environmental and societal complexity, and its effects on the individual, especially visible in the increase of self‐reference (the commonalities between man, animals and machines). Distinguishes three meanings of self‐reference and discusses the interrelationships between self‐reference, alienation, and growing societal complexity: states that, especially in the last few decades of this secular age, there has been increasing incidence of self‐reference. Also discusses the relationship between self‐reference, constructivism, and modern brain research. Asserts that the march of self‐reference is likely to continue, but that it will change in character.

Alienation will be viewed as a generic term for different kinds of information‐processing problems in human individuals, viewed as autopoietic, variable‐boundary systems. Applying general systems theory (GST), especially second‐order cybernetics, to alienation theory not only results in a reconceptualisation and increased mutual comparability of existing (e.g. Marxist and psychoanalytic) theories of alienation, but also presents a rationale for subsuming several typical, modern, “information‐overload” problems in Western societies under the rubric of alienation theory. Such problems include those of selection and scanning, assimilation, flexibility, overchoice, and self‐realisation or self‐actualisation — problems which typically occur in complex and fast‐changing environments.

Takes a general systems approach to reconceptualize and interconnect existing theories of alienation in community and in society. Alienation is viewed as a generic term for different types of information processing disturbances of human individuals, conceived as autoietic, self‐steering and self‐referential systems. In considering the possible relationships between alienation and the community‐society continuum, regarded as a controversial and complex one, a third element, complexity itself, which exerts its influence, is introduced. The main focus is on the different kinds of alienated response that may be evoked by relatively simple versus relatively complex environments. Discusses the idealized concept of the community and describes the negative effects of idealization. Finally, addresses the question of what type of community is still feasible in the highly complex society.

Slaughter has proposed futures in which interior human development matches that of technological development as the best prospect for avoiding catastrophic collapse through overshoot of the Earth's carrying capacity. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the primary energy resource context in making sense of the prospects for such futures, and to consider how subtle changes to conceptual models for understanding the nature of human development can offer alternate pathways for proceeding in light of the fundamental limits this imposes.

Conceptual models for the relationship between energy and social complexity are reviewed, and proposals for connecting social complexity with interior human development are discussed. Popular models of interior human development are critiqued in light of recent clarifications relating to Integral Theory; and specific reconceptualisations are proposed.

Technological and interior human development are intimately linked. There are important interdependencies between energy and social complexity that must be taken into account in establishing expectations for the way that these realms might evolve together. This presents significant challenges for realising on a society‐wide scale development of the nature commonly associated with Integral Theory. However, alternative ways of conceptualising such development offer fresh opportunities for confronting the spectre of environmental and social breakdown.

The implications of models relating social complexity and resource context are extended to questions of human interior development; the unit of development is extended from the individual in relative isolation to the organism‐in‐environment.

This paper aims to make the case for continued opportunity for high levels of human well-being under descent conditions characterised by declining economic throughput and socio-political complexity.

Relationships between assumptions about human well-being formed within a modern industrial context, the guiding narratives attending these, and the broader cultural influence of ideas from the evolutionary sciences are examined. Alternative ways of making sense of these relationships are explored. The experiences of societies guided by cultural narratives based on different premises to those most influential in industrial societies are reviewed for their implications for human well-being under descent conditions.

Human experiences of well-being are principally a function of the sources of meaning and associated narratives by which members of a culture make sense of their situation, as these determine the nature of the material and energetic conditions required to live well. Under descent conditions, the narrative of progress that has supported viable societies during the 300-year period of industrial expansion is unlikely to continue serving humanity well. Collective participation in the renewal of guiding cultural narratives is a primary target for efforts to provide continued opportunities for high quality of life to all members of humanity.

The findings point towards specific characteristics of cultural sense-making narratives that may support viable human societies under descent conditions.

By moving beyond the default assumption that descent automatically implies decline in human well-being, a barrier may be lowered to more open and mature society-wide engagement in conversations about the present human predicament and effective ways of responding to it.

New connections are identified between perspectives based on biological evolutionary theory and the continued influence of the idea of progress in establishing default assumptions about prospects for human well-being under descent conditions. Experiences of non-industrial societies are taken as the basis for identifying opportunities for human well-being under far more modest material and energetic conditions than those available to the portion of humanity that presently enjoys benefits of industrial development that outweigh the attendant costs.

The complexity of the integration of non-financial benefits (NFB) in major infrastructure projects (MIP) engenders the formulation of networked knowledge between researchers and practitioners. The authors’ research question is as follows: To what extent does scientific knowledge about the integration of NFB into MIP support engaged scholarship or co-construction of knowledge between researchers and practitioners?

The paper uses a review of literature published in academic journals on the integration of NFB in MIP. Nearly 300 papers are analysed in depth, based on categories (aspects and sub-aspects) inspired from engaged scholarship and paradoxical participation approaches. The culture of collaboration and the notion of boundary objects are the two main aspects of this categorization of journal papers.

First, research on the integration of NFB into MIP is either project-oriented or society-oriented but in a larger proportion for society-oriented. Second, a lot of researches favour an analytic over a holistic approach, despite their openness to dialogue with practitioners through the complexity and conflict.

It contributes to the theorization of the engaged scholarship. It also provides insights about research avenues to be exploited where these aspects were not sufficiently exploited, as it is often the case with sustainability, for a better collaboration between researchers and practitioners. Linking the culture of collaboration, boundary objects and knowledge co-creation in the engaged scholarship setting encourages a better understanding of the needs (problem to be resolved) of practitioners, by themselves and the researchers.

The systematic review was conducted in parallel with the organization of two workshops with participants concerned by the integration of NFB into MIP. The paper identified four clusters from their level of compatibility with engaged scholarship.

Provides definitions of the three concepts in the title and explores their interrelationships. Distinguishes six alienation dimensions – powerlessness; meaninglessness; normlessness; social isolation; cultural estrangement; self‐estrangement – and combines them with three kinds of participation: spontaneous, negative, and compensatory. Describes increasing societal complexity from a general systems perspective. Explores the psycho‐ and sociogenesis of unalienated as well as alienated participation. Increasing societal complexity creates new forms of alienation and participation, but also resistances of groups that feel threatened or left out by an excessively fast rate of change, which in turn threatens macro‐societal stability. Those left without the means to participate in the economic or political process tend to be the alienated “negative participants”; they are generally destructive and anti‐outgroup as a result of personal experiences or economic deprivation.

The instrumental-normative divide that has historically characterized approaches to societal sustainability has also resulted in a rift between underlying mental models and methods destined to address the issue. This separation makes our understanding and tackling of the present global ecological problems only limited and ineffective. The present work aims to draw on theoretical background to develop a conceptual framework for transitioning to integrated corporate sustainability.

Drawing inspiration from Luhmann’s (1995) theory of social systems, we consider the instrumental (hard) and normative (soft) methods (Jackson 2019) for corporate sustainability as “conceptual systems” that derive much of traditional social systems’ attributes. These systems are autopoietic, complexity-reducing and functionally differentiated. Following Luhmann’s philosophical grounding, we suggest that integrating the two systems of hard and soft methods boils down to constraining both systems’ internal complexity by imposing limitations on their operational structures. This translates into a decodification–recodification process whereby new methods emerge as a combination of initially disconnected structures.

The proposed conceptual integration framework is applied to the case of the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (SBSC) which has been recently subject to inconclusive controversy. Our work demonstrates that redesigning the SBSC’s architecture following the presented framework leads to embracing complexity, tensions and conflict all the while offering a systematic approach for properly identifying and quantifying cause–effect relationships. Moreover, the proposed framework scores high in Complexity and Systemicity measures, making it both durable and practically useful. More generally, this work drives home the point that an integrated approach to sustainability management is not only important but also feasible and theoretically durable.

Theoretically, the present work underscores the contribution of systems theory, and particularly the Luhmannian perspective, to transcending some of the most salient “divides” in approaches to societal sustainability. The decodification–recodification process not only enables integrating two distinct conceptual systems, but it also transforms the divide into an opportunity to gain a fresher perspective on one of the most challenging issues of our time. This process may demand, however, some adjustments as we move across various function systems, which requires solid knowledge and understanding of the underlying “codes” that define the systems subject to integration.

This work implies that integration of varied and sometimes outwardly opposed function systems can and must be carried out to achieve larger societal impact. With respect to the illustrated case, the emerging dynamic SBSC offers a viable strategic planning platform whereby managers and stakeholders can concurrently define, forecast and adjust the societal strategy that maximizes triple bottom-line indicators and sustainable development impact.

Providing decision and policymakers with integrated sustainability management approaches and instruments will have a direct benefit on enhancing the way systems, and large corporations in particular, treat and deal with nature and human beings.

We propose that proper integration of multiple function systems, employing integrative, unbiased and structured methodologies, can be decisive in challenging current practices in sustainability management and in providing informed guidance for making the high-stake decisions needed in the transition towards sustainable development of business and society.

The purpose of this paper is to locate the concept of competitive productivity (CP) within a general theory of societal progress and include new thinking on the challenge of obstacles to be met at certain stages.

The approach is to review the key literature dealing with economic growth and rising societal achievement and to refine out concepts that offer understanding of the dynamics commonly involved, taking illustrative examples from different societies and seeking overall common denominators that appear within the historical processes.

New understandings of societal progress, using complex adaptive systems theory applied to cities and industrial districts, indicate that two forces are at work to release new positive forms of energy into society. Economies of scale work via the laws of fractal geometry to yield sublinear growth of energy. More intense social interaction works within the core of the society in a different way to yield superlinear growth. These two forms of energy release can feed off each other beneficially in conditions where, as with CP, the forces of competition can work with forces driving efficiency, in conditions where societal order can be supported by appropriate cultural norms.

A wide literature across several disciplines is brought to bear on the very complex question. Some of the theories are new but very well anchored. It is consequently possible to suggest a pattern of multi-determinants able to match the reality and to foster nuanced comprehensive analysis.

Impacts on policy of foreign direct investment and joint venture management.

Emphasis on the roles of societal virtues in establishing the cooperativeness needed for CP.

Few studies bring together so many disciplinary perspectives into a complete argument.