Modernism/Constructivism and Space for Emergence

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Modernist Reproduction  >    <          "Present Ground " *         >     <   Textual & Constructivist  Iteration
         (Reductionism)                                                                         (Complexity/Mystification)
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                                                    Negatively Framed Ground
                                                           (The Commons)





The  theoretical response to modernist reproduction, (i.e. post structural theory) offers the possibility of positing an assumed  ground / commons of 'inclusive value' and emergent co-creation (Massumi & Manning 2010), however the post - modernist forces of (re)production,  both material: mechanical/electronic and academic:constructivist/textual ( Weatherall et al, 2001, referring to Witgensteins Language games. state discourse is concerned with 'building worlds') may be  motivated (by job security, position, niche etc) by the economic  metric (Marx)  to impose an assumed 'comparative value'  that privileges the various varieties of construction.


Is potential space for / discourse on emergent form/agreement from a common source (e.g. Appreciative Judgement (Vickers) in the academy/public sphere  obscured by constructionist values driven  comparative expert  judgement and language games? (perhaps this is considered, spiritual space?)


Are the commons and public space for potential inclusive emergence:  framed negatively ie  perceived as a threat from each 'opposing'  constructed metric? (Massumi)


eg the  theory of 'emergence' (Hyeck /Delanda) - appropriated by the closed/exclusive designed economic metric system and dismissed as such by the forces of textual reproduction based on closed discourse? when emergence is  a property of natural open systems(Wynne B( 2005)


The  increasing complexity of such constructed expert language games and the stereotyped reductionism of Modernism provide a fertile ground for endless argumentation, (reducing sensitivity?) also  can the expressive dominance of performative iteration (Austin/ Kristeva)  obscure/block  collective sensitivity to  a common creative emergence ?
Can this  also block progressive (non competitive) innovation and automation in both the theoretical and innovative-productive realm ? (eg Logical Typing/ General System Theory/Complexity theory > Deleuze)


Should those concerned with space for communicative discourse (Habermas) (e.g. the university)  take account of this (symbolicly distorted communication) by actively exploring  if  the (excluded) 'random flows' and  and 'layerd textured surfaces of natural environments'  perhaps could facilitate emergent agreement   ?


Do/Should Discourse Analysis based  Methodologies (e.g. Mouff / Fairclough) take account of this 


Is this an exclusive  dialectical framing of theoretical perspective... excluding sensitivity to  middle ground?




* "Present Ground" -  the term acknowledges the difference in type, of the 'present moment' from the 'past' and 'future' ,which are actually both consturcted and experienced in the present, it could be perceived as  a ground that we do not 'escape from' although we may convince ourselves we do with our language, that ground is our inclusive source. not an enclosed segmented 'objective' conceptual aspect, or idea, nor something that can be enclosed or segmented,  but a living inclusive shared presence and source of all we are...the dynamic self-organising nature of natural systems...


http://browse.reticular.info/text/collected/massumi.pdf


 Massumi & Manning A Continuum of Modes of Perception - Neurodiversity


 re : Human language (with its inherent conceptual boundaries & dualism?) <> Textured Perceptual Relating  (Co-creation & Emergence)


1 Massumi, B , The-political-ontology-of-threat The affect theory reader


 2. Massumi & Manning "Coming alive in a world of Texture (Video)"
: the blurring of  "Autist/Artist" is not a mistake...the authentic artist really does have to step back from Neurotypical position if they are to leap... there are material/reified methods and more authentic methods of achieving this as usual and the market chooses its own favorites... 'objectivisation' or 'mutual dance of attention'...efficiency...or ?


3. Weatherall,Taylor, Yates. 2001 "Discourse Theory and Practice": Introduction


"People are using their language to construct versions of the social world": (1)built from existing resources (components) , (2)there is an active selection of these components, (3)people experience events in terms of their linguistic constructions
see The Thomas Theorem and The Matthew Effect. Robert K. Merton. Social Forces, December 1995, 74(2):379-424.
c.f Sapir Whorf

4. Vickers, Sir Geoffrey (1995) The Art of Judgment – A Study of Policy Making. Sage 

Publications. Centenary Ed. 


+ Massumi: Artspace into the Diagram 
Creative Involution Deleuze & Guttari


* its the nature of academia to focus on distinction, more subtle distinctions and changes in relevant distinctions, indeed that is the theoretical foundation of research. However, the balance between valid distinction and distinction for mystification is a delicate one.

Emergence

According to (Checkland 1999, p. 314), Emergence  is “the principle that entities exhibit properties which are meaningful only when attributed to the whole, not to its parts.” 


(replace by Cilliers etc 2005 if not acceptable)


Questions that arise from this definition include: What kinds of systems exhibit emergence? Under what conditions do they exhibit emergence? Are emergent properties predictable? Can emergent properties be planned?


http://www.sebokwiki.org/index.php/Emergence

Explaining emergence in language can be complex, it occurs perhaps best by example, for me  its always in potentially inclusive situations when I notice that subliminally I had been (perhaps objectifying) and excluding a "section" or aspect of the environment (inner and outer), judging it as irrelevant or not good enough  when i start to accept it (perhaps for its potential) there appears to be a shift or movement in the system, the whole thing seems to evolve in a positive direction- that's what it means to me...

eg Sunlight on a Wall

One  example of emergence  is sunlight dancing on a wall... a common occurence you may be able to see around you now, and yet the combination of sun, wall, interference from plants/trees and the position of the subject all combine to create the unique experience...

The post structural concerns itself with the uniqueness of the subjects position and this affects the experience yet it is the whole system of light, wall, plant and subject position that enable the experience to happen.





Example 1 : Canopy Rorscharch

Example 2 : Canopy Church (At night)

Example 3 :   Treelight

The experience represented by this photo occured in the context of a random journey I took recently, a combination of the position I was stood in, the sun, a spider's web and  some resin from the tree led to the apperance of a diamond like a bright light shining from the centre of the trunk.  

(the awareness of such emergent qualities/experiences and openness/access to them may relate to appreciative judgement (Vickers) , the  relationship of appreciative judgement  to hegemony  is of interest (Gramsci) ?) (to mix theory and topic)
This leads us to a positive angle on  the issue of frames (c.f Schon and Rein), what appreciative openings do we have/allow? (c.f. inclusive value/comparative value )

... to see, to value, and to respond to situations in familiar ways that, while they last, exclude the power to see other possibilities (ibid, p. 

69).  Vickers 1995

„...a set of readiness to distinguish some aspects of the situation  rather than others and to classify and value these in this way rather than in that‟ (ibid, p. 82).

Hall: Hegemony & the Emergent

Hegemony is a tricky concept and provokes muddled thinking. No victories are permanent or final. Hegemony has constantly to be worked on, maintained, renewed, revised. Excluded social forces, whose consent has not been won, whose interests have not been taken into account, form the basis of counter-movements, resistance, alternative strategies and visions … and the struggle over a hegemonic system starts anew. They constitute what Raymond Williams called "the emergent" – and the reason why history is never closed but maintains an open horizon towards the future.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/sep/12/march-of-the-neoliberals




A political perspective on emergence by Stuart Hall, could be related to Foucaults Exclusion and Dominant/Marginalised Discourse. Closure/Openness is mentioned, >research  Raymond Williams use of term...

Univocity - Emergence

Deleuze offers us a complicated description of Univocity, however careful reading suggests it appears to fit the definition of an Emergent property (Von Bertanfly) as Deleuze has a history in studying systems science this seems likely...