ABSTRACT
Module 6 turns to advanced PAR tools that acknowledge complexity and facilitate big-picture thinking from the start. Chapter 18 sets the stage by reviewing linear, classificatory, rule-based and part-whole approaches to systems thinking. The authors add to this list a novel ‘soft systems’ approach to engaged inquiry. System Dynamics is an original social adaptation of the input-output matrix used to depict the interaction of sectors in an economy. This generic method assesses how elements interact dynamically to create particular behaviours and situations exhibiting system-like features. It highlights the context-specific nature of dynamic and probabilistic interactions, towards a better understanding of system boundaries and levels of integration. The tool can be adapted to different themes, including elements in nature (Ecological Dynamics), project or programme activities (Activity Dynamics), factors in a problem situation (Causal Dynamics) and stakeholder relationships (Network Dynamics). The chapter uses a story on the interaction of crops in an Indian mixed cropping system to illustrate the practical insights of Ecological Dynamics. At the end of the chapter, the authors explain how Leontief’s input-output economics should be loosened to accommodate situations of uncertainty and unpredictability, forces that inevitably turn ‘whole systems’ into ‘systems with holes’.
