SPRADLING, ALEXANDER MICHAEL; PHD

                         SAYBROOK INSTITUTE, 1990

                         SOCIOLOGY, SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT (0700); URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING (0999); ENGINEERING, SYSTEM SCIENCE (0790)
 

                         Traditional models of development tend to emphasize economic growth through a rigid sequence of
                         development stages that is supposed to be universally valid regardless of cultural differences. Most
                         'alternative' models stress either the need for a 'new international economic order' or the satisfaction of
                         'basic needs,' and they fail to offer a global development program based on a viable guiding image of the
                         future. Moreover, the prevailing approach to inquiry in the context of societal systems is dependent
                         upon discipline-based scholarship. Given the complexity and increasing interdependence of societal
                         systems such an approach is limited to gaining merely partial understanding of selected dimensions of
                         these systems. The theoretical and methodological model presented here takes into account: (1) the
                         many dimensions of human and societal development, (2) the evolutionary nature of developing
                         systems, (3) the purposeful nature of human beings, and (4) their potential ability to give guidance to the
                         evolution of their societal systems. It propounds that by applying the systems approach and our growing
                         understanding of the paradigm of self-organization to bear on the development problematique, we can
                         bring about a radical transformation in the way we approach development. One of the major premises of
                         this theoretical model is that by understanding the dynamics of change and transformation and the
                         systemic nature of our societal systems we can guide their evolution towards a consciously chosen
                         future. To do that we must place design at the center of development. Hence, design here is
                         understood as a disciplined inquiry guided by normative values which are themselves grounded in an
                         evolutionary vision and guiding images of the future. The aim of such a methodological approach is to
                         make possible the alignment of human will with 'objective' evolutionary forces. Thus, the challenge for
                         development scholarship and practice is to explore, experiment, test, and evaluate the notion of
                         development through evolutionary guidance by making design the foundation of development inquiry.

Social Systems Simulation Group P.O. Box 6904 San Diego, CA  92166-0904 Roland Werner, Principal Phone/FAX  (619) 660-1603