Piecemeal Social Engineering Research Articles

An argument for open education policy

While many historically contingent barriers to individual liberty have been deconstructed, I argue that current education policy continues to maintain a discriminatory educational milieu that constitutes individuals as dis/abled. I describe this current government formulation of educational spaces as Closed Policy. Various contingent environmental barriers, dynamically intersecting with, for example, gender, class, ethnicity, physiology, and neurodiversity; inhibit individuals due to constructed notions of ability and disability. I draw upon the principles of Open Futures, Open Society, piecemeal social engineering, and prioritarianism to call for a deconstruction of Closed Policy and movement towards Open Policy. I argue that current educational policy is unjust and should be deconstructed to free individuals from coercion, prejudice, and harm. I argue for a shift towards Open Policy so that difference can be celebrated and the potential for Open Futures is maximised.

Global contents but nationalistic themes: Bong Joon-ho’s “Snowpiercer”

Bong Joon-ho’s film, Snowpiercer (2013) is based on a French graphic novel which deals with the people who got on a train that ran continuously around the world in the coming ice ages. At first, the passengers of the train were restricted to the upper classes, but some lower class people happened to get on the train abruptly. It seems to be inevitable to start to struggle between the two classes. In this regards, the theme of this film is focused on the environmental disaster and social stratification. The ruling classes on this train emphasize the order and control. They justify their domination and oppression over the lower classes, assuming that the cause of the disaster lies in the discrepancy which comes from the uncontrolled populations and productions. They use ‘the Spell of Plato’ to prove their logic. According to their logic, the hierarchy must be divided into two (the ruler and the oppressed) or three (guardians, warriors and workers). Every citizen must be satisfied with his social position. Their logics are further reinforced by the gradual ‘piecemeal social engineering’ proposed by Karl Popper. They also emphasize the justification of strong control supported by the Malthusian ‘principle of population’, where the population grows exponentially, but production increases arithmetically. This theory is repeated itself at the commercial movie like Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). These movies became the dominant trends which could be named ‘(Post) Apocalyptic Film’. It seems that Bong Joon-ho is willing to follow the trends and conventions of the genre movie as known as Apocalyptic Film. However, by casting Korean actors as third groups of the movie intentionally, he makes it possible to imagine a new world that is different from this frustrating dichotomy (higher’s domination/lower’s oppression). Namgung Minsu and Yona who are acted by two Korean actors are represented as very active and interesting characters who are anticipated to solve the main social problems in the movie; environmental disasters and class conflicts. They show us the possibilities of the new world which can be imagined after the frozen and totally destroyed world is ended. Korean spectators can feel proud of the fact that the heroic and fantastic character of this movie is restricted to two Korean actors. Bong seemed to aim the target of spectators only to Korean. Anyway, he could make a little bit different movie from the conventions of blockbuster a.k.a. disaster movie or apocalyptic movie.

A STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS ON THE GLOBAL ACTORS’ ADAPTIVE CHANGE TENDENCIES TOWARDS THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

This study is devoted to carrying out a structural analysis on the global actors’ adaptive change tendencies towards the circular economy (CE) as a response to the climate crisis. By using the comparative case study method, the study focused on the relationship between China’s, Japan’s, the EU’s and the USA’s main structural patterns and their CE policies. In parallel with their existing institutional structure, China follows a top-down piecemeal social engineering approach, Japan a collaborative approach, the EU a functionalist approach, and the USA a market-centred approach. All these approaches target adaptive changes, and the institutional rationality of these actors could be given as the main reason behind this tendency. The institutional rationality has instrumental and historical components, and both favour an adaptive change over a transformative change. As a result, it could be argued that the structure matters in the global actors’ response to the worsening climate crisis, and a gradual paradigm shift towards the CE seems the only feasible option. However, the structural inclination to strengthen the functionality of the existing linear system via adaptive changes might impede the success of it; thus, the piecemeal adaptive changes should be progressively coordinated towards the targeted circular system.

Human and social reforms in Africa: the piecemeal engineering

Most established communities aspire for growth and developments demonstrable in the degree of scientific and technological outputs. These outputs are made possible through the function of the human mind, hence, the expedience of the human person as the focus of social development. However, the sustenance of development is made possible through human policies from reformed entities, and this is where the state and its apparatus (social institutions) like the government are inevitable. Less emphasis has been laid on human reform and the role it plays in social reform in Africa through piecemeal engineering. Therefore, this paper investigates the position and primacy of human reform in social reform in Africa. Using Karl Popper’s idea of piecemeal social engineering as a theoretical framework, this paper argues that human reform remains pivotal to Africa’s social reform. This paper argues that if there is no sufficient human reform, Karl Popper’s piecemeal social engineering which has greatly impacted social reforms in some developed nations will be fruitless in Africa. The methods of argumentation will be expository, analytic as well as evaluative.

How to achieve an institutional change towards circular economy? A comparative case study on the EU and China

ABSTRACT This study analyses the EU’s and China’s institutional change attempts towards the Circular Economy (CE) from an institutionalist perspective. The actors’ purpose seeking/instrumental and path-dependent institutional rationality highly affected their institutional change attempts. The increasing instability/inefficiency originating from the dialectical tension between economy and the environment in the linear economic system triggered the actors’ instrumental rationality to make an institutional change towards the CE. The instrumental rationality of the actors also favoured an incremental change. The EU’s functional and China’s piecemeal social engineering approaches emerged as a result of their different institutional structures. These findings suggest that the institutional rationality of global actors encourages them to initiate incremental (but not abrupt/radical) institutional changes. Therefore, global actors’ abrupt/brand-new responses to the worsening global environmental crisis are less possible. These findings also suggest that a heterogeneity-oriented institutionalist perspective might be useful in developing a better understanding of macro-level/global developments.

Knowing as a Subversive Activity: A Conversation with Steve Fuller’s Post-Truth: Knowledge as a Power Game

Fuller carries social constructionism to its bitter end in his theory of the “post-truth condition”—endemic to current life and to the entirety of Western Philosophy. According to Fuller, the gates to the elitist power/knowledge-games have been crashed by the democratic mob. Fuller implicitly extends Popper’s radicalism in the philosophy of science to political and social philosophy. Rather than Popper’s piecemeal social engineering for the purpose of minimizing human suffering, Fuller promotes revolutionary social change in the face of catastrophes. Fuller pushes for a “proactionary” approach because the current vast social change refutes the fragility-assumption of Popper’s “risk-adverse” sociopolitical philosophy.

Evaluation for an Open Society: Then and Now


 
 
 
 Background: Karl Popper’s views about science and political economy remain relevant to evaluation theory and practice. His Open Society opus inspired pioneering contributions to experimental evaluation and shaped the evaluation discipline. Yet, his ideas are not widely known without the evaluation community even though populist leaders are once again threatening to undermine democracy.
 
 Purpose: To define the Open Society, probe its epistemological tenets, confirm that they remain valid as the foundation of evaluation practice, identify the ways in which the operating environment for evaluation has changed and, against this background, propose a policy change agenda relevant to the contemporary evaluation discipline.
 
 Setting: The Open Society is once again being undermined. Modern authoritarianism is tightening its grip. The lure of the strong man is once again gaining traction. The dominance of an international order grounded in democracy, human rights, and the rule of law is giving way to a world in which leaders are pursuing narrow nationalist and vested interests. In this troubled context, policy making has become more complex than when evaluation emerged out of the ashes of World War II. Economic and social dysfunctions have led to extraordinary concentration of wealth and privilege. Ominous environmental threats loom. The architecture of international relations designed in the mid-1940’s has become obsolete.
 
 Research Design: To design this commentary about the prospects of the evaluation discipline, the author drew on his personal experience as evaluation academic, international development practitioner, manager of the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group for two consecutive five-year terms and senior independent evaluation adviser to governments and international development agencies.
 
 
 
 Intervention: As an intervention, this article adds value to evaluation theory and practice by showing why and how the Popper/Campbell mandate for evaluation needs to be upgraded to protect the public interest in a new operating environment. Specifically, Popper’s piecemeal social experimentation concept should be refined to forge links between small scale experiments and the broader fabric of society. In addition, the ambiguity regarding the relationship between the Open Society and evaluation should be lifted through a reconsideration of the democratic evaluation model.
 
 Data Collection and Analysis: The author conducted an extensive review of the literature and consulted with a wide range of evaluation thinkers to examine the extent to which Popper’s philosophy remains relevant to the evaluation discipline.
 
 Findings: Popper’s Open Society ideas aimed at avoiding the rise and perpetuation of autocracy and remain highly relevant. But the current threats to democracy call for a more ambitious and detailed remit for the evaluation occupation. Beyond the promotion of evaluation in democracy and of democracy in evaluation, evaluation for democracy should be pursued. This implies putting value, ethics, and the public interest at the very center of the evaluation occupation; breaking free of Popper’s parsimonious piecemeal social engineering concept to inform systemic social reform; bringing peace to a methodologically divided house; systematic mixing of evaluation methods and models; and the promotion of evaluation independence through professionalization.
 
 
 
 
 
 Keywords: democracy; experimentation; falsification; paradigm wars; piecemeal social engineering.
 
 
 
 

Principles and Policies

Even though social engineering has gained a bad reputation, due to new possibilities in the information age, it may be time to reconsider Karl Popper’s conception of “piecemeal social engineering.” Piecemeal social engineering is not only an element within Popper’s open society. It also connects his political philosophy to his philosophy of science and his evolutionary epistemology. Furthermore, it seems to fit well into the search for implementation strategies for policies and social actions in the context of nonideal theory. Nevertheless, this does not necessarily undermine the need for political ideals and first-order principles, which are inhabitants of “World 3.”

An explanatory framework for understanding teachers resistance to adopting educational technology

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a way of understanding the resistance shown by teachers to the adoption of some educational technologies. Design/methodology/approach – The Wookie Widget Server is taken as a case study. This has been a long-term development project at the Institute for Educational Cybernetics, located at the University of Bolton, and has been used with teachers in a number of implementations. The efforts to enhance teachers’ adoption of the system are outlined, and an explanatory framework is proposed called “MegaTech and MiniTech” which clarifies the reasons for teachers’ resistance to adoption. Findings – The explanatory framework combines theoretical approaches from Harre’s positioning theory, Heidegger’s concept of “to hand” and Popper’s utopian and piecemeal social engineering. Application of this framework indicates that in deploying the Wookie Widget Server with teachers the researchers were adopting a position of power in relation to teachers. The nature of this p...

A Popperian Approach to Education for Open Society

Karl Popper’s falsificationist epistemology that all knowledge advances through a process of conjectures and refutations carries profound implications for politics and education. In this article, I first argue that, on a political level, it is necessary to establish and maintain an open society by fostering not only five core values, viz. freedom, tolerance, respect, rationalism, and equalitarianism, but also three crucial practices, viz. democracy, state interventionism, and piecemeal social engineering. Then, considering that an open society places great political, and thus educational, demands upon its members, I examine the role played by education in its establishment and maintenance, focusing on its educational aims, curriculum, and pedagogy.

Anti-Authority: Comparing Popper and Rorty on the Dialogic Development of Beliefs and Practices

For many, Rorty was a postmodern relativist and Popper was a positivist and Cold War liberal ideologue. The argument developed here rejects such views and explores how Rorty’s work is best understood from a Popperian problem-solving perspective. It is argued that Rorty erred in seeking justification for beliefs, unlike Popper who replaced the search for justification with criticism. Nonetheless, Rorty’s arguments about post-Nietzschean theory and reformism function as important updates to Popper’s arguments about methodological essentialism and piecemeal social engineering, respectively.

Establishing National Science and Technology Park in Pakistan

This paper presents the concept of the National Science and Technology Park (NSTP) in Islamabad, Pakistan. Keeping in line with Karl Popper's Piecemeal Social Engineering theory, a critical-pragmatic approach is adopted in shedding light on the strategic thrusts and expected outcomes of this knowledge-driven, entrepreneurially-spirited, multi-industry project. Based on Triple-Helix perspectives, we investigate the role of the National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad in efforts aimed at developing NSTP as an intermediary hybrid organization that enhances industry-academia-government linkages, with the potential to serve as an engine for regional and national economic growth and competitiveness.

Re-Interpreting the “Chinese Miracle”: A Multi-Dimensional Framework / Re-Interpreting the “Chinese Miracle”: A Multi-Dimensional Framework

Summary The rapid economic development and transformation of the Chinese society over the past three decades has, by a large mass of analysts, been called a “Miracle”. This paper not only addresses the shortcomings of existing interpretations but also develops a new multi-dimensional framework based on North′s theory of institutional change and Hayek′s theory of institutional evolution to explain China′s miraculous growth. Our analysis shows that both Hayekian spontaneous order and Popper′s “piecemeal social engineering” played a major role in attaining China′s miraculous growth.

The use and limitation of realistic evaluation as a tool for evidence‐based practice: a critical realist perspective

The use and limitation of realistic evaluation as a tool for evidence-based practice: a critical realist perspective In this paper, we assess realistic evaluation's articulation with evidence-based practice (EBP) from the perspective of critical realism. We argue that the adoption by realistic evaluation of a realist causal ontology means that it is better placed to explain complex healthcare interventions than the traditional method used by EBP, the randomized controlled trial (RCT). However, we do not conclude from this that the use of RCTs is without merit, arguing that it is possible to use both methods in combination under the rubric of realist theory. More negatively, we contend that the rejection of critical theory and utopianism by realistic evaluation in favour of the pragmatism of piecemeal social engineering means that it is vulnerable to accusations that it promotes technocratic interpretations of human problems. We conclude that, insofar as realistic evaluation adheres to the ontology of critical realism, it provides a sound contribution to EBP, but insofar as it rejects the critical turn of Bhaskar's realism, it replicates the technocratic tendencies inherent in EBP.

“Inclusive education: The way of the future”—A rebuttal

At the general presentation of the 48th session of the International Conference on Education, “Inclusive Education: The Way of the Future”, a “holistic” approach was advocated to improve educational opportunities for children who are excluded from an equal education and adults who are illiterate. The first part of this paper argues that a more effective approach would be “piecemeal social engineering”. The second section presents examples of the piecemeal or targeted approach and offers suggestions for applying it to improve educational opportunities for this group.

Inclusive education: Open debates and the road ahead

This special issue is devoted to the outcomes of the 48th International Conference of Education, “Inclusive Education: The Way of the Future” (Geneva, 25–28 November 2008). In addition to presenting the conclusions and recommendations from the conference, this introduction tackles a wide range of questions in the field of inclusive education on which there are still controversy and debate. The issue draws together a selection of articles that analyze these open debates at a deeper level. Special emphasis is placed on several issues: Should inclusive education be a comprehensive approach or follow a policy of piecemeal social engineering? How can educational systems pursue equity and quality simultaneously? What is the role of government, and of decentralization and autonomy? What teaching methods are needed, and what changes in teacher education, development and motivation? Finally, what are the roles of communities, social attitudes, and behaviours?

Du nouveau chez les anciens.

Du nouveau chez les anciens. Aristote mentionne à deux reprises dans la Politique les projets de réforme de l’urbaniste géomètre Hippodamos de Milet. Ces passages sont à lire de très près. On y trouve une remarquable discussion de la question de l’importance politique de l’urbanisme, et de l’analogie que l’on peut faire entre le changement des structures urbaines et celui des lois de la polis . La position d’Aristote, difficile à bien cerner, est, comme souvent, balancée. Elle nous montre que les Anciens connaissaient la « querelle des Anciens et des Modernes », et l’auteur tente d’en tirer des enseignements quant aux rapports que des penseurs tels que Descartes, Hayek ou Popper ont pu établir entre urbanisme et réformisme. Une troisième voie est possible entre le « constructivisme » rationaliste et le « naturalisme » spontanéiste, comme Mill l’avait argué, avant Popper.

Situational logic in social science inquiry: From economics to criminology

Karl R. Popper proposed that the method of explanation in economics, or situational logic, should become the general model for analyses across the social sciences. This article makes good Popper's proposal by extending situational logic to a social problem outside the traditional scope of economics: crime. Specifically, the discussion reviews models developed by economist Gary S. Becker and criminologist Ronald V. Clarke. Becker's ‘economic approach’ to crime incorporates essential features of situational logic. Clarke's ‘situational crime prevention’ offers an even better demonstration; it explicitly incorporates the ideas of piecemeal social engineering and unintended social repercussions. Popper took situational logic from Menger and the Austrians, making this emerging area of criminology an extension of Austrian economics.

Democracy: Piecemeal Social Engineering in Practice (or: ‘The Theory of Breatheable Air’)

Democracy: Piecemeal Social Engineering in Practice (or: ‘The Theory of Breatheable Air’)

Alternatyvus pilietinis ugdymas ir socialinė propaganda

Straipsnyje nagrinėjama šiuolaikinės demokratinės visuomenės raida ir jos sąmoningumas, atsižvelgiant į santykį su spektaklio visuomene, su šiuolaikinėmis įtikinėjimo formomis ir pilietinio lavinimo problemomis. Šiuolaikinės visuomenės demokratinė savivalda sunkiai galima be viešųjų ryšių technologijų, socialinės propagandos. Jų aktualumą lemia heterogeninės, skirtingų kompetencijų, interesų ir aktyvumo socialinės grupės. Straipsnyje nagrinėjama socialinė inžinerija, socialinė propaganda, socialinė reklama ir pamatuota demokratinė visuomenės raida. Iš dalies kritikuojama K. Popperio utopinės ir dalinės socialinės inžinerijos perskyra nurodant, kad falibilizmo principas nėra tiesiogiai perkeliamas iš gamtos mokslų į socialinius. Šiuolaikinė visuomenė privalo plėtoti projektinį mąstymą ir projektų konkurenciją, o jų alternatyvumas užtikrina utopinio mąstymo žalos mažinimą ir išsaugo kūrybingumą. Taigi falibilizmas yra pakeičiamas alternatyvų raida. Atitinkamai yra nagrinėjamas žiniasklaidos vaidmuo remiant socialinę propagandą, atsižvelgiant į skirtingus jos dalyvavimo, įtrauktumo lygius. Straipsnis skiria: (a) vienpusę socialinę propagandą, kuri formuoja vienmatį žmogų, propagandos subjektą, skatina pakeistinį mąstymą, ir (b) alternatyvią socialinę, kultūrinę propagandą kaip demokratinį visuomenės savivaldos principą. Teigiama, kad alternatyvumas yra tiesiogiai susietas su viešosiomis erdvėmis. Viešuma užtikrina dialogizmą, kuriame esmingai gyvena ir savo rūpesčius apmąsto žmogus. Dialogizmo ir viešųjų erdvių, kur tas dialogas įmanomas, griovimas kartu reiškia ir demokratijos eroziją bei autoritarizmo ir vienpusės manipuliacijos didėjimą. Norint šių reiškinių išvengti, būtina skatinti alternatyvų pilietinį ugdymą, kurio tikslas – mokytis protesto, manifestacijų, alternatyvių reprezentacijų ir mikroakcijų formų. Pažymimos sąsajos tarp socialinės propagandos ir plakatų, šūkių, agitacinių straipsnių ir feljetonų žanrų. Svarbu kaupti ir analizuoti alternatyvių sąjūdžių patirtį ir kelti protesto kultūrą, kurios viena išraiškų yra alternatyvių socialinių ir kultūrinių projektų teikimas ir kompetencijų šioje sferoje didinimas, mažinant monopolistines ir valstybės centristines tendencijas, didinant bendruomenių savivaldą.