Alexander Bogdanov, Stafford Beer and intimations of a post‐capitalist future

Abstract

Alexander Bogdanov (1873–1928) was a Russian social theorist and revolutionary activist whose ‘universal organizational science’, or Tektology, is increasingly being recognized as offering stronger foundations for the systems approach than the later ‘general system theory’ of Ludwig von Bertalanffy. Had his thinking not been suppressed by Stalin, the course of Soviet history might have been different. Stafford Beer (1926–2002) was a British management scientist and consultant who was a pioneer in the development of ‘organizational cybernetics’. His best‐known engagement was with the government of Salvador Allende, in Chile, seeking to use his ‘viable system model’ to create a socialist society that did not rest on a command economy. This experiment was cut short by the Pinochet coup d'etat. I have found no evidence that Beer was familiar with the work of Bogdanov, and this makes the similarities in their thinking particularly striking. This paper explores the ideas they shared in common. The work of other writers who have drawn on the work of Bogdanov and Beer, in formulating contemporary visions of post‐capitalism, is highlighted.

Rebooting the systems approach by applying the thinking of Bogdanov and the pragmatists

“…Designing an organization according to Beer's ‘viable system model’, for example, allows that organization to co‐evolve with its environment and explore the possibilities that become available to it. This, and other elements of Beer's work, have encouraged Maracha (2019) and Jackson (2021b, 2023) to explore further similarities between his and Bogdanov's thinking.…”

Alexander Bogdanov and the question of unity: An emerging research agenda

“…5 It should be noted that, since late 2020, Jackson has been actively engaging with Tektology, as well as Bogdanov's earlier works (Bogdanov, 1904(Bogdanov, -1906(Bogdanov, , 1913, which have recently been translated into English in a Historical Materialism book series published by Brill. Jackson has given public talks and seminars on this work, and has published several blog posts on Bogdanov's legacy, where he has identified Bogdanov as a significant predecessor to critical systems thinking (Jackson, 2020(Jackson, , 2021a(Jackson, , 2021b(Jackson, , 2021c). Jackson's contribution to this special issue are two intriguing articles on Bogdanov's ideas and their relevance to the unity of contemporary systems thinking (Jackson, 2023a(Jackson, , 2023b.…”

“…Jackson has given public talks and seminars on this work, and has published several blog posts on Bogdanov's legacy, where he has identified Bogdanov as a significant predecessor to critical systems thinking (Jackson, 2020(Jackson, , 2021a(Jackson, , 2021b(Jackson, , 2021c). Jackson's contribution to this special issue are two intriguing articles on Bogdanov's ideas and their relevance to the unity of contemporary systems thinking (Jackson, 2023a(Jackson, , 2023b. 6 Midgley's 1992 writings on the unity of science were written before he met Peter Dudley, who introduced Bogdanov's thinking to colleagues in the Centre for Systems Studies at the University of Hull, but his 1996 and 2001 contributions were written contemporaneously with Dudley's (1996a) editing of the Tektology.…”

Festschrift for Mike Jackson: Call for papers for a special issue of Systems Research and Behavioral Science

“…He has been involved with Luis Sambo, former Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Africa, showing how CST can enhance work on health policy and systems research (Jackson, 2020c;Jackson & Sambo, 2020;Sambo & Jackson, 2021), and is currently working with the WHO to produce a White Paper on systems thinking and health systems strengthening. He has gone back to the work of Alexander Bogdanov, an early pioneer of the systems approach, and also to philosophical pragmatism, in the search for a philosophy that can unify the systems movement as a whole (Jackson, 2022c(Jackson, , 2022d. This endeavour is continuing with an exploration of the systems thinking of Spinoza in the 17th Century.…”