Democracy
& Nature
The International journal of Inclusive Democracy
Vol. 6, No. 3 (November 2000)
Aleksandr
Bogdanov and
systems theory
ARRAN
GARE
Abstract:
The
significance and potential of systems theory and complexity theory are best
appreciated through an understanding of their origins. Arguably, their
originator was the Russian philosopher and revolutionary, Aleksandr Bogdanov.
Bogdanov anticipated later developments of systems theory and complexity theory
in his efforts to lay the foundations for a new, post-capitalist culture and
science. This science would overcome the division between the natural and the
human sciences and enable workers to organize themselves and their productive
activity. It would be central to the culture of a society in which class and
gender divisions have been transcended. At the same time it would free people
from the deformed thinking of class societies, enabling them to appreciate both
the limitations and the significance of their environments and other forms of
life. In this paper it is argued that whatever Bogdanov's limitations, such a
science is still required if we are to create a society free of class divisions,
and that it is in this light that developments in systems theory and complexity
theory should be judged.
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