Thinking Differently: How Can Systems Thinking Contribute to Decolonial Futures

Dear Colleagues,

Reductionism has been instrumental in advancing the scientific method, and is still the dominant epistemology behind the design and implementation of colonial practices. The legacy of colonial thinking and its practices in contemporary life perpetuates war, racism, patriarchy, climate emergency, biodiversity loss and the cultural crises we currently face.

Systems thinking (ST), and the methodologies and practices associated with it, claim that problems should be tackled by examining the full context (i.e., social, cultural, ecological) of situations and events. Systemic thinking advocates the importance of making a conscious effort to include other people’s perspectives and worldviews. We assume that ‘systems’ are mental constructs (epistemological devices) to explore and understand the real world; systems do not exist in the real world, and as such cannot be managed or engineered (Checkland, 1999; Jackson, 2003). Furthermore, systems thinking practices are powerful for nurturing ‘systemic sensibilities’ to cope with complexity (Ison and Straw, 2020).

This Special Issue will invigorate systems thinking in practice. It will compile conceptual and practical articles that explore diverse worldviews in pursuit of alternative realities to dominant culture. The aim of the Issue is to demonstrate that by seeking emancipation from the dogma and political constraints of contemporary academia, sponsored research and their legacies of colonialism, systems thinking academics and practitioners may better face the transformative challenges of our present and many futures, by starting from a decolonial perspective. As Andreotti states, making change (second-order change, change of whole systems), rather than reinforcing the status quo, requires systemic interventions armed with different modes of thinking—modes that challenge the complicity of ‘change makers’ in historical (colonial) enterprise (Andreotti 2015).

You are invited to submit a paper that explores the role of systems thinking that addresses the power balances within and between the natural world, human societies, politics, economics, the arts, sciences and cultures. We are interested in original conceptual and empirical papers related, but not to restricted, to the following topics:

1. How can systems thinking recognize, regenerate, support and learn from diverse fundamental cultural, social and ecological values?
2. How might systems thinking be applied to intersectional power dynamics discourses on issues of poverty, gender inequalities, LGBTQ+, colour, and ethnicity?
3. What are the systems thinking approaches towards decolonising education and academia?
4. When might systems thinking be applied to the cognitive emancipation of westernised socio-ecological systems?
5. How may critical systems thinking contribute to decolonial futures?
6. Beyond the Anthropocene: how can systems thinking reconnect humans and non-humans with the biophysical world?

References

Andreotti, V. (2015). Global citizenship education otherwise: pedagogical and theoretical insights. In Ali Abdi, Lynette Shultz, and Tashika Pillay (Eds.) Decolonizing Global Citizenship Education (pp. 221-230). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. https://codeofgoodpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Andreotti-Global-Citizenship-Education-Otherwise-2015.pdf [Accessed 1 July 2022]

Checkland, P.B. (1981, 1999) Systems Thinking, Systems Practice, Wiley

Ison, Raymond and Straw, Ed (2020). The Hidden Power of Systems Thinking: Governance in a Climate Emergency. Systems Thinking. Routledge.

Jackson MC (2003) Systems Thinking: Holism for Managers, Wiley: Chichester.

Prof. Dr. Alberto Paucar-Caceres
Dr. David Haley
Prof. Dr. Sandro Luis Schlindwein
Dr. Katarzyna Werner-Masters
Guest Editors

Valeria Vargas
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Systems is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• systems thinking
• critical systems
• decolonisation
• futures
• ecological values