Ships Going into the Blue

Communities of Creative Practice: Follett's Seminal Conceptualization

“…Figure 1 depicts Simpson's [41] postulates of differentiation and allocation of social power as dimensions in a 2×2 matrix, which are dichotomized in terms of Follett's concepts of power-with and power-over as well as in terms of economic and judicial procedures regarding relationship building. As a result of introducing Follett's dichotomies into Simpson's postulates in the quadrants of Figure 1, we obtain Cohen's [42] four-option possibility of multigroup organized existence:…”

“…Though the emphasis on the member/group identities is the most common contemporary pluralist theme (i.e., gender-specific, multiethnic, and multiracial), power relationships are also important to the concept of communities of practice. Simpson [40] argues that pluralism must incorporate at least two aspects of social power relations: Downloaded by [Queensland University of Technology] at 10:29 14 October 2014 1. delegation of authority; and 2. allocation of resources within a focal social context. Delegation of authority reflects the relationship between patterns of stratification and social institutions within a particular social context.…”