Planning for turbulent social fields

Abstract

This study is premised on the proposition that the social fields of advanced industrial societies, considered as the milieux for the purposive social behaviours of individuals, groups and organizations, are becoming subject to important qualitative changes in their structure and dynamics, which will necessitate new forms of individual and organizational adaptation. The evolution of such environments towards a state that has been characterized as 'turbulent' from the point of view of purposive human activities, appears to represent the configuration of four prevalent and very persistent tendencies operating within the technologically advanced societies: high and accelerating rates of technological and social change; uneveness in the rates of change among the constituent parts of the field; increasing interconnectedness and interdependence among these parts; and increasing overall size and complexity of the social field. Show more