Assumptions

Comprehension of Appropriateness (Part #2)

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The following assumptions are frequently implicit in discussions of alternatives to present approaches to economic and political organization, especially as they impact on or constrain human development in ways which are considered undesirable. 

Given recognition of any alternative mode of socio-economic organization that builds on the strengths of what has been achieved, but remedies the factors giving rise to the perceived defects, a set of such assumptions might include: 

• 1. That the new mode is inherently better in some absolute sense and that, conversely:
• the old mode must necessarily be permanently abandoned as historically outmoded; 
• the defects in the new mode will not eventually prove to be as significant as those under the old mode.
• 2. That the new mode is equally appropriate to all societies and to all sub-cultures within those societies, especially if adapted to local contexts and requirements. 
• 3. That, if it can be comprehended, represented and discussed within one frame of reference, the mode can nevertheless be of sufficient complexity to respond to the concerns perceived by constituencies preferring other frames of reference. 
• 4. That an appropriate new mode can be readily articulated in its entirety, rather than necessarily provoking a set of partial comprehensions which people, of whatever level of competence, experience considerable difficulty in integrating/reconciling, even if they are motivated to do so. 
• 5. That an appropriate mode can be readily implemented by a consistent pattern of actions, rather than requiring a set of seemingly inconsistent and incompatible actions, each favoured or condemned by some different configuration of constituencies. 
• 6. That the coherence and integrity of an appropriate mode derives from a hierarchical relationship between its components, as opposed to other possibilities with characteristics such as: 
• configurations of incommensurable conceptual or organizational groupings in which the hierarchical dimension, if any, is secondary or implicit; 
• cyclic phases of emphasis over time;
• alternation between seemingly opposed or contradictory policy modes.
• 7. That credible articulations of a seemingly attractive approach do not effectively obscure hard realities to which the advocating group may be insensitive (or anxious to avoid discussing in order to further some hidden agenda). 
• 8. That any readily devised approach will not necessarily provoke counter-strategies or strategies which exploit the situation created by the implementation of the new approach, undermining it and eventually rendering it ineffective. 
• 9. That, during the implementation of the appropriate new mode, it is possible for any given constituency to avoid being trapped into recognizing any necessary practical strategy in either a 'positive' or a 'negative' light, and consequently to be entrained to further or oppose that partial strategy, without consideration of whether such effort is excessive in the light of the contextual mode to which it contributes. 
• 10. That the essence of being human, and of human development, involves processes free from ambiguity, paradox and counter-intuitive phases, permitting an appropriate new mode to be articulated in a manner free of such non-rational characteristics. 

The above assumptions do not constitute a tidy set. In fact the last six could be considered as reformulations of aspects or implications of the third. 

The intention here is to illustrate the comprehension dilemmas arising from these assumptions, bearing in mind that if the assumptions do not hold, such explorations can only be indicative rather than unambiguous. The object is to highlight the practical implications for the design of an appropriate new mode and how it might be perceived and received. Before doing so, however, it is appropriate to address the dynamic associated with the debate between those emphasizing a 'concrete' approach as opposed to those emphasizing a 'theoretical' approach. 

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