marked by a change in the “entire cultural matrix and the relationship of humanity
to nature” (Raskin et al. 2002: 3). With this definition the report combines an
ecologically embedded socio-technical view (SETS) with an economic lens on
relationships. The authors describe social organization, the character of the economic system, and capacity for communication as the three core dimensions that
have been transformed.
The modern era is seen as beginning with the advent of nation states as the social
and political forms of organization that interacted with the establishment of
capitalist-industrialist forms of production and consumption. In parallel, communication also expanded its geographical scope and became more widely accessible
through printing. The ongoing twenty-first century transformation toward what the
report calls the “planetary phase” is marked by the globalization of all three
dimensions: governance beyond nation states, multinational economic relationships
and information technology communication connecting almost all parts of the
world. Another pattern observed is increasing social complexity, an accelerating
pace of change and spatial connectedness, so that few places are immune to what
takes place elsewhere. From this the authors conclude that the next transition should
not last ten thousand or a thousand years, but around a hundred.
The 2002 report locates the origins of the modern era transition in the characteristics of the modern capitalist industrialist system that overthrew the authority of
a society based on birthright, economic traditionalism and rigid class divisions.
Instead, law-governed institutions, market economies and a society based on scientific ingenuity and mass production emerged. The authors also observe that these
institutions were designed to primarily harness some aspects of human potential,
those for accumulation, acquisition and innovation: “A permanent revolution in
technology, culture and desire spawned an explosion of population, production and
economic complexity. Ever hungry for new markets, resources and investment
opportunities, the self-expanding and colonizing industrial system began its long
march toward a world system” (Raskin et al. 2002: 7).
The planetary phase was a necessary outcome of this explosion because the fate
and relationships of peoples in different parts of the world are now too connected
for anyone to think that developments in one part of the world can happen without
impacting others. In addition, the fate of and relationships between people and
nature are too intertwined for anyone to believe that the destruction of ecosystems
can leave humanity unscathed.
So the report focuses not on whether there will be a transformation but instead
on the fact that one is already underway. It is up to purposefully acting people to
influence which path this transformation will take. In terms of what drives conscious human action, the authors distinguish several different mind-sets. Each of
them embodies beliefs about the potentials and qualities of technological, human
and natural changes. They amount to paradigmatic differences regarding the
assumptions of what we can know about the world, what we say the world is like
and how we presume it ought to be. This broad categorization distinguishes three
typical lenses through which to anticipate the future:
2.1 Digging into Societal Transformation and System Innovation Research
33
to nature” (Raskin et al. 2002: 3). With this definition the report combines an
ecologically embedded socio-technical view (SETS) with an economic lens on
relationships. The authors describe social organization, the character of the economic system, and capacity for communication as the three core dimensions that
have been transformed.
The modern era is seen as beginning with the advent of nation states as the social
and political forms of organization that interacted with the establishment of
capitalist-industrialist forms of production and consumption. In parallel, communication also expanded its geographical scope and became more widely accessible
through printing. The ongoing twenty-first century transformation toward what the
report calls the “planetary phase” is marked by the globalization of all three
dimensions: governance beyond nation states, multinational economic relationships
and information technology communication connecting almost all parts of the
world. Another pattern observed is increasing social complexity, an accelerating
pace of change and spatial connectedness, so that few places are immune to what
takes place elsewhere. From this the authors conclude that the next transition should
not last ten thousand or a thousand years, but around a hundred.
The 2002 report locates the origins of the modern era transition in the characteristics of the modern capitalist industrialist system that overthrew the authority of
a society based on birthright, economic traditionalism and rigid class divisions.
Instead, law-governed institutions, market economies and a society based on scientific ingenuity and mass production emerged. The authors also observe that these
institutions were designed to primarily harness some aspects of human potential,
those for accumulation, acquisition and innovation: “A permanent revolution in
technology, culture and desire spawned an explosion of population, production and
economic complexity. Ever hungry for new markets, resources and investment
opportunities, the self-expanding and colonizing industrial system began its long
march toward a world system” (Raskin et al. 2002: 7).
The planetary phase was a necessary outcome of this explosion because the fate
and relationships of peoples in different parts of the world are now too connected
for anyone to think that developments in one part of the world can happen without
impacting others. In addition, the fate of and relationships between people and
nature are too intertwined for anyone to believe that the destruction of ecosystems
can leave humanity unscathed.
So the report focuses not on whether there will be a transformation but instead
on the fact that one is already underway. It is up to purposefully acting people to
influence which path this transformation will take. In terms of what drives conscious human action, the authors distinguish several different mind-sets. Each of
them embodies beliefs about the potentials and qualities of technological, human
and natural changes. They amount to paradigmatic differences regarding the
assumptions of what we can know about the world, what we say the world is like
and how we presume it ought to be. This broad categorization distinguishes three
typical lenses through which to anticipate the future:
2.1 Digging into Societal Transformation and System Innovation Research
33