Valuing who we are in relation to others: The ‘praxis of co’ in an Anthropocene‐world. The 2025 agenda for the cybersystems community

Abstract

AbstractIn our Agenda Essays to date, we have argued the need to frame contemporary circumstances in terms of the Anthropocene‐world we humans have created. We also prioritise the five‐decade‐old, prescient analysis of humanity's predicament as the ‘global problématique.’ Earlier, we advocated for identifying comprehensive modes of ‘collaborative agency’ to better unleash the transformative potential inherent in cybersystems thought and action. In the present essay, we continue this reflection. What does the enhancement of collaborative agency look like, and what can various modes hope to deliver? To what extent does immersion in cybersystemic traditions inform the design possibilities for acts of co? We offer critical reflections on the individual, organisational and community ecologies within which this ‘praxis of co’ is emerging. A key take away here concerns how processes of valuing shape the enactment of the ‘praxis of co,’ particularly as it cannot be realised outside conversation. Understanding oneself is always and inescapably conducted in relationship with others, but progress in the ‘praxis of co’ requires a dance between responsibility and response‐ability—an ethic (responsibility) that exists in duality with enablement or affordance (response‐ability). Moves towards organisational or operational interdependence are contingent on responsible autonomy, grounded in an axiology that is both operational and ethically defensible.