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Journal of Cleaner Production


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Heal the world. A solution-focused systems therapy approach to


environmental problems
Steffen Roth a, b, *
a
La Rochelle Business School, Excelia Group, 102 Rue de Coureilles, 17000 La Rochelle, France
b
Department of Sociology, Yerevan State University, Alex Manoogian 1, 0025, Yerevan, Armenia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In observing a capitalist lifestyle of addiction to relentless growth responsible for an imminent self-
Received 14 April 2018 extinction of the human race, environmentalism is a particularly problem-centred movement. The
Received in revised form purpose of this article is to address and manage the risk that the movement is co-dependent on and co-
25 September 2018
performs the problems it tries to solve. To this end, a supervision framework is developed based on the
Accepted 13 December 2018
Available online xxx
insight that knowledge of a problem is not required for solutions to that problem to emerge. Core ele-
ments of solution-focused brief therapy, systemic structural constellations, and social systems theory are
combined to demonstrate that there would be better success with the higher goals of environmentalism
Keywords:
Environmentalism
if environmentalists focus not on problems of capitalism and growth, but on those non-economic aspects
Growth of social life that can be grown instead. An outlook shows that this shift of focus from problem to the
Capitalism problem ecology resonates well with ambitions to ensure sustainable development and to design
Solution-focused brief therapy alternative indices that go beyond the OECD well-being framework or the Happy Planet Index.
Systemic structural constellations © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Addiction

1. Introduction to growth: there is always a demand for more, no matter how large
the economy is already” (Haapanen and Tapio, 2016, p. 3495). This
As careful observers of the state of the world, environmentalists appetite for growth and self-destruction does not even spare sus-
often feel the natural impulse not only to interpret this world in tainability concepts as environmentalists must face that “(e)ven the
various ways but also to change it. As the need for urgent change most recent ‘circular economy’ strategies aim at ‘boosting the
could not be more obvious in the twilight of the bleak prospects for economy’” (Khmara and Kronenberg, 2018, p. 721).
the future of our planet, there is serious concern about the slow Unfortunately, however, confrontational approaches themselves
pace of this change as well as the still considerable resistance faced create side-effects such as defensive denial and reactance and
by those concerned with the prevention of the self-extinction of the therefore are rarely effective or even used in the treatment of ad-
human race. The dominant strategy to speed up change is to dictions (Costanza et al., 2017a, 2017b). The development of less
confront sceptics and resisters with the sheer omnipresence of confrontational and more pragmatic and solution-oriented coping
warning signs that indicate the severe side-effects of decades of strategies for the diagnosed capitalist lifestyle addiction therefore
unsustainable growth mania (Daly, 1974; Mishan, 1967; van appears to be a critical element in the achievement of natural and
Griethuysen, 2010) or fetishism (Hamilton, 2004) and the corre- social climate change goals (Bell and Morse, 2005; Brugnach et al.,
sponding lifestyle of unrestrained compulsive consumption and 2011; Folke, 2006; Harangozo  and Zilahy, 2015; Stout, 2010; Vira,
behavioural addiction (Higham et al., 2016; Ryan, 2013). In fact, a 2015). The main challenge here is not so much in a lack of
considerable number of serious scholars (e.g., Jackson, 2009; adequate intervention methods as techniques that work at the in-
Latouche, 2009; Lorek and Spangenberg, 2014; Rees, 1999; dividual level can obviously be scaled up to the level of society
Slaughter, 2012; van Griethuysen, 2010; Victor, 2008) confront (Costanza et al., 2017b). Rather, the issue seems to be complicated
the public with the diagnosis that capitalist “societies are addicted not only by how confrontational environmentalist positions typi-
cally are typically presented but also by how biasedly the respective
evidence it is produced in first place. In fact, environmentalism is,
* La Rochelle Business School, Excelia Group, 102 Rue de Coureilles, 17000 La often avowedly, problem-centred (Kirschke et al., 2017; Sandmo,
Rochelle, France. 2015; Siebenhüner et al., 2016) as a strong fascination with
E-mail address: roths@excelia-group.com.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.132
0959-6526/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Roth, S., Heal the world. A solution-focused systems therapy approach to environmental problems, Journal of Cleaner
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2 S. Roth / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx

imminent and potentially fatal threats, risks, and crises caused by desire for change even in the face of an apparently unchangeable
the above collective behavioural addiction is foundational for the situation.
movement. Consequently, the movement is concerned most with In the course of the years, solution-focused therapists have
the determination and insistent communication of the scale, scope, developed a set of classical interview and intervention techniques.
and urgency of these problems, whereas the development of so- As solution-focused therapists start from the assumption that
lutions is given short shrift. Often even the goals and solutions change is a constant in any system, they regularly use coping
remain in problem mode. The concept of degrowth, for example, questions. The purpose of this type of questions is to make clients
first identifies growth as a problem and then aims to observe less of aware of how they actively stabilise their problem and maintain it
the problem it continues to observe. As a result, “one could hardly over time (Berg, 1994). To this end, the therapist asks such ques-
find a more inadequate term to describe a project positively intent tions as, “How come things aren't worse?” or “What have you (or
on ecological democracy and frugal abundance” (Latouche, 2012, others) done to keep things from getting worse?”. The purpose of
p. 77). these question is not only to develop solutions from successful
As natural as it is to focus a problem to better understand its experiences, but also to show clients they are not helpless victims
causes, so too is it true that even the sharpest problem focus cannot ofdbut have control overdthe problem.
but sharpen the problem. Too strong and exclusive a focus on a Another technique routinely applied in solution-focused brief
problem is therefore likely to produce problems itself, including therapy are scaling questions. These questions are used not so much
issues with patronizing behaviour and dysfunctional helping also to rate the size of the initial problem (usually on a scale from 1 to
referred to as co-dependency. 10), but to track change and to document progress as well as to
The problem addressed in this article is therefore the risk that calibrate the ratio of effort and effect that goes along with identified
environmentalists are co-dependent ondand thus co-perform- coping strategies.
dthe very problems they address and try to solve. To solve this Scaling questions may also be combined with relationship
problem and minimize the corresponding risk, this article suggests questions so as to ask clients to view and rate problem situation and
itself as a form of supervision explicitly based on the assumption progress through the eyes of their significant others. This procedure
that knowledge of the problem is not required for the development helps clients to assess whether their therapeutic progress or
of effective solutions. Given the limited space of an article, the desired future is appropriate to their social context. An example is:
method of choice is solution-focused brief therapy (Berg, 1994; de “How would your husband rate your motivation to change on scale
Shazer, 1985, 1994), which is combined with key elements of so- from 1 to 10?” Moreover, relationship questions may also stand on
cial systems theory (Luhmann, 1982, 1990, 2013) and solution- their own such as in “What differences in your behaviour would tell
focused systemic structural constellations (Sparrer, 2007; von your wife that you are feeling already much better now?”
Kibed, 2006)da therapeutic intervention method that allows for Yet another key principle of solution-focused brief therapy is
the spatial representation and redesign of relationships within that clients are encouraged to “start small” as, from a systems
conflicting social systems. perspective, even the smallest change in one part of a system
changes the structure of the entire system. For example, it often
2. Elements of solution-focused brief therapy takes only small-scale individual change to trigger a “butterfly ef-
fect” that results in considerable change of an entire family struc-
The invention of solution-focused brief therapy is attributed to ture. Moreover, the sense of achievement resulting from even
Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg (de Shazer, 1985; de Shazer and small-scale success makes clients more resourceful in finding so-
Berg, 1997; de Shazer and Dolan, 2007). “Solution-focused therapy lutions to larger problems. Solution-focused therapy therefore
is a non-pathologizing, positive, and future-oriented approach” often begins with small and simple solutions, and, as a matter of
(Anderson, 2016, p. 196) distinguished by its focus on the con- principle, does not assume that particularly complex problems
struction of solutions rather than on the resolution of problems. necessarily call for particularly complex solutions (de Shazer, 1991).
Whereas the solution-focused approach has strong roots in social One of the simplest and best-known solution-focused technique
constructivism and Wittgensteinian language philosophy (de is the miracle question. The therapist asks the client to image that a
Shazer and Berg, 1992), its intervention techniques are informed miracle has happened and made their problem disappear (de Jong
by extensive best practice-oriented observations of therapy ses- and Berg, 2012; de Shazer and Dolan, 2007). As with the other
sions. Therapeutic behaviours and interventions that reliable techniques, the intent is to defocus the problem and to help clients
induced desired change were identified and incorporated into the envision their life as it would be if their preferred problem were
framework. As solution-focused brief therapy has developed, the solved.
significance of diagnosis, anamnesis, or problem definition has The virtue of miracle questions can be further increased if the
continued to decrease to the extent that the therapy is even suc- clients are not just asked to imagine the miracle, but actually made
cessful in solving unknown problems (George et al., 1999), for to see it happen. This wonder may be accomplished by solution-
example, in the context of ambiguous or hidden systemic structural focused systemic structural constellations as developed by Mat-
constellations (Sparrer, 2007). This does not mean that solution- thias Varga von Kibe d and Insa Sparrer (Sparrer, 2007; von Kibe d,
focused therapists are problem-phobic (de Shazer, 1994; Sparrer, 2006). As with traditional family or systemic constellations, the
2007). Instead, they assume that key principle of systemic structural constellations is the creation
and modification of a tangible, spatial representation of a client's
 A comprehensive knowledge of the problem is not required for internal picture of a particular issue. Typically, persons or, alter-
solutions to occur. natively, lifeless objects represent elements, components, or as-
 Clients have the capacity to envision and perform change. pects of the issue. Persons or objects are then arranged and
 Clients are motivated and often already trying to make change rearranged in space until their spatial constellation corresponds to
happen (Weiner-Davis et al., 1987). the client's inner picture of the issue at stake. A facilitator then
invites the client to explore and experiment with alternative
As the focus is on the preferred future, the client's problem structural arrangements, which emerge whenever elements are
definition is redundant. All solution-focused brief therapy needs to moved in, removed from, or added to the constellation space. For
be effective is clients whose strain is strong enough to maintain a example, the elements of a typical problem constellation are:

Please cite this article as: Roth, S., Heal the world. A solution-focused systems therapy approach to environmental problems, Journal of Cleaner
Production, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.132
S. Roth / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx 3

 Focus (the index patient or any other indicator of the problem),


 Goal (the desired yet currently unachievable state),
 Obstacles (whatever is blocking the way to the desired state),
 Resources (whatever is necessary to achieve the desired state),
 (Hidden) Return (that is, the return on the persistent return to
the problem), and
 Future tasks (that need to be accomplished once the goal is
achieved).

In this context, the miracle often happens when the focus or


problem is physically taken out of the constellation, and the
remaining elements are rearranged or complemented to fill the gap
left by the missing problem. This manoeuvre regularly leads to the Fig. 2. Problem focus: Political economy (author provided).
discovery of new resources or the definition of alternatives goals.
In reviewing the above intervention strategies, it must be
central aspect of social life. In this context, there is no need to define
confirmed that a solution-focus must not be confused with naive
the other elements of the social system to understand the problem.
problem oblivion or problem phobia (de Shazer, 1994; Sparrer,
This constellation corresponds to a situation one might refer to, for
2007). This is why, in the subsequent section of this article, one
example, as “capitalism's economic dominance” (B. Anderson &
can afford to take a brief glance on typical problem constellations of
M'Gonigle, 2012, p. 43).
capitalism and growth before one continues to strategically ignore
If one proceeds to indicate some of the other elements, then one
them.
can illustrate slightly different constellations in which politics plays
a role, too (see Fig. 2).
3. Dys-/functional problem constellations of capitalism Fig. 2 illustrates constellations in which the problem also ap-
pears not only as one of economic dominance, but also one of a
In this section, some of the above solution-based brief therapy dominant ideology. This constellation refers to ideas of growth
and systemic structural constellation techniques will be applied to capitalism as a hegemonic economic policy or a situation where
explore solutions to the problem of capitalism and unsustainable capital rules, respectively.
growth. The similarities between these problems and those of A similar constellation corresponds to the prominent notion
health recovery challenges are obvious (Jepson, 2018). Moreover, that there is basically no difference between economy and politics
the problems are observed to be as serious as persistent not least as expressed by slogans such as “money is power” (see Fig. 3).
because of “the ability of capitalism to survive and prosper has been More comprehensive constellations emerge as one rearranges
well documented” (Hesketh, 2016, p. 890). or adds further elements. Thus, one finds that triangles are popular
Within a solution-oriented framework, however, there is no not only in family therapy, but also in social theory (see Fig. 4).
need a particularly comprehensive or sophisticated account of the In looking at the constellation depicted in Fig. 4, our focus is on
problem to develop effective solutions. Rather, in our context, it is three central elements of social life. The figure represents a
sufficient to understand that problems of growth are intertwined
with problems of capitalism because growth seems to be either fuel
or engine of capitalism; and that problems of the phenomenon
(Victor, 2008), institution (Jackson, 2009), or ideology (Latouche,
2009) of growth actually are problems of economic growth. As
capitalism, too, is defined by a specific and often problematic
dominance of economic principles over other aspects of social life,
the uniting feature of the intertwined problems is the negative
impact the past and present economic performance has on the
economy's social and natural environment.
If systemic structural constellation is used to reify mental pic-
tures of these issues, then it can be shown that one prominent
definition of capitalism is that of a society dominated by the
economy (see Fig. 1):
Fig. 1 depicts a context in which the idea of economic domi- Fig. 3. Problem focus: Money is power, red is green (author provided).
nance is translated into a constellation where economy is the most

Fig. 1. Problem focus: The dominance of capitalism (author provided). Fig. 4. Problem focus: Critical theory, triple helix, and PEST (author provided).

Please cite this article as: Roth, S., Heal the world. A solution-focused systems therapy approach to environmental problems, Journal of Cleaner
Production, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.132
4 S. Roth / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx

constellation of power relations, instrumental rationality, and


economic exploitation that is typical for critical-theoretical obser-
vations of social systems. The figure also corresponds to the triple
helix of university-industry-government concept (Leydesdorff and
Etzkowitz, 1996) or to the main components of the infamous
strategic management tool PEST.
It is evident that in all three cases, the focus is on issues of
politics, economy, and science/technology, whereas other suppos-
edly subordinate issues are either faded out of or put into container
concepts such as the “social” or “socio-cultural” in PEST in many
environmentalist articles (Siebenhüner et al., 2016).
The shortcomings of all these modes of observation have been
early discovered. As with other cases of reductionism, the natural Fig. 5. Solution focus, version 1: A world without economy (author provided).
impulse has been to seek salvation in the discretionary addition of
further key elements. For example, there have been several at-
need to be filled with imagination of colourful alternatives beyond
tempts to design enhanced versions of PEST (such as PESTEL,
the traditional negative black-and-white pictures of society pre-
STEEPLED, or SPELIT) or to determine the adequate n in an n-tuple
sented under the caption “capitalism”.
of helices (Leydesdorff, 2012). Yet, the issue with these additive
A second consequence would be the question what can replace
processes is that it does neither question the initial choice of key
the economy or whether economy can at all be replaced. This
factors nor systematically avoids contingency in the addition of
question does not stop atdbut may well start withdthe imagina-
further elements. For example, there is serious doubt as to whether
tion of governments, NGOs, and other policy makers whose main
ethics, demographics, or environmental factors are logical com-
focus is not on the stimulation (or limitation of negative side effects)
plements of the original PEST factors (Roth et al., 2017). Moreover, a
of economic growth, but on the growth in and of other aspects of
problem focus remains a problem focus even if one expends
social life (Fig. 6).
considerable energy on the addition of ever more problem context.
In a similar vein, one may also imagine critical theories, triple
It is therefore not the ambition of this article to engage in a detailed
helixes, or popular strategic management tools that marginalise
and comprehensive analysis of problem constellations associated
economic aspects to the same extent that earlier theories, helixes,
with capitalism and growth. The above constellations depicted in
and tools have excluded critical non-economic aspects of social life
the above figures have illustrative purpose, and the only agreement
(see Fig. 7).
one needs to proceed is that capitalism as much as the growth
Once one has seen the economy disappear, however, one can
environmentalism is normally concerned about are issues related
think differently about how the observation of economic domi-
to the economy's impact on its natural and social environment.
nance actually had come about in first place.
If a zoom-out of the problem and into the problem ecology is a
An answer to this question is that economic issuesdincluding
standard technique of solution-oriented therapy, then the decisive
that of the dominance of capitalismdcan only be observed against
move to solutions for problems of capitalism and growth is to un-
derstand that a problem focus cannot but sharpen the problem and
that one, therefore, needs to defocus issues of capitalism and
growth. This strategy implies that one draws the attention away
from the assumedly dominant economy. Such an ecological move
would normally not be hard to achieve for environmentalist were it
not for the fact that the problems at stake appear as huge (as urgent
and that there is nothing more natural than our attention being
paid to the most severe, urgent, and challenging problems. This is
precisely why a miracle is needed to come anywhere close to even
just the imagination of solutions to problems of growth and
capitalism.

4. Multi-system miracle questions for environmentalists


Fig. 6. Solution focus: From political economy to political what? (author provided).
There can be miracles when one believes, and even when one
does not. One advantage of systemic structural constellations is that
it makes the effects of miracle questionsdwhich remain pure
thought experiments in traditional SFBTdmore tangible or visible,
at least (see Fig. 5).
Fig. 5 illustrates how a miracle question may be used for the
exploration of solutions to problems of capitalism and growth. To
this end, the figure presents the constellation of Fig. 1, in which, by a
miracle, the once dominant economy has disappeared. If one sup-
poses that precisely this miracle has happened and all difficulties
with economic growth and capitalism have disappeared, then one
can ask oneself what would be different in the way one does
research or defines what is (a good) society?
One first consequence of a disappeared economy would be a
huge gap for researchers in fields such as ecological economics, Fig. 7. Solution focus: Non-economic critical theories, triple helixes, or management
critical management studies, or economic sociology which would tools (author provided).

Please cite this article as: Roth, S., Heal the world. A solution-focused systems therapy approach to environmental problems, Journal of Cleaner
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S. Roth / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx 5

the background of a rather young form of social differentiation remained to deduce the right position of the red token within its
known as functional differentiation. This is true because functional social environment. In other words: even if the one decided to
differentiation is the answer to the question how the economy can remain concerned with economic issues in general and with side-
at all be distinguished from analytically similar concepts such as effects of capitalism and economic growth in particular, then the
politics or law, and how problems of an only insufficient separation solution to these problems is to focus all of attention not on
of economy and politics such as corruption can be identified and defining or fighting capitalism and economic growth, but to redi-
managed. rect one's appetite for definition and de-/growth to those so-far
The significance of functional differentiation can therefore neglected aspects of social life that one wants to redefine and
hardly be over-estimated. The concept is widely recognized to be de-/grow instead.
indispensable for the understanding of modern society (Luhmann,
1977, 1982; 1990, 2013; Valentinov, 2015b; Valentinov et al., 2015; 5. Outlook: ecological economy or ecology of the economy?
Vanderstraeten, 2005) and a comprehensive presentation of the
concept and its significance is given elsewhere (Roth et al., 2018; This article developed a solution-focused systems therapy
Valentinov, 2014b; Will et al., 2017). Suffice it to mention that the approach to environmental problems based on the knowledge that
concept of functional differentiation is associated with the solutions to problems will not be found in an ever-intensified
distinction of probably ten function systems e politics, economy, confrontation with these problems. Consequently, this article
art, science, religion, law, sport, health, education, and mass media demonstrated how problems caused by a capitalist lifestyle of
(Roth et al., 2017). addiction to economic growth can be defocused, how the concept
These ten systems are incommensurable and therefore not yet of growth can be freed from its narrow economic connotation, and
sorted into a predefined ranking of importance, because there is not how interest in other, non-economic forms of growth can be grown.
one logical reason for assuming that the economy is in principle Based on pertinent groundwork by Valentinov (2014b), the
more important than politics or education, science more important article insisted that the economy is just one in a constellation of
than art or sport, or law more important than health or religion. probably ten function systems such as politics, art, science, religion,
Then again, there is evidence that these function systems can be law or education. An obvious conclusion from this relatively un-
observed to be differently important to different eras or areas of controversial claim is that an increased interest in these and further
society (Schimank, 2015). This apparent contradiction can be non-economic aspects of social live will lead not only to a more
resolved if it becomes clear that it is not despite, but precisely detailed and comprehensive account of the economy's ecological
because of the absence of a predefined ranking that these systems footprint in society, but also to a more adequate repositioning of the
can be ranked at all. Thus, the incommensurability of the function economy within its social and ultimately its natural environment.
systems is a necessary prerequisite for the analysis of trends such as This framework therefore resonates with concepts of neo-growth,
an economisation or a secularisation of society, too. its precursors and cognate concepts (Breyer et al., 2017;
If the observation of problems of and solutions to capitalism, Heinonen, 2013; Heinonen et al., 2001; Heylighen and
growth, and environmental degradation is resumed in the light of Lenartowicz, 2017; Kaivo-oja et al., 2001), which for some time
the above considerations, then the economy appears as just one in past promote the idea that “growth should have a deeper meaning
ten function systems (see Fig. 8). than mere economic growth” (Breyer et al., 2017, p. 9) and that
In looking at Fig. 8, it becomes clear that a focus on the red token there is a need to redefine prosperity both at the level of individual
representing the economy might be an option to better understand (social or green) entrepreneurs (O'Neill and Gibbs, 2016) and at the
the problem with that red token. At the same time, it holds true that global scale (Jackson, 2009).
even just the problem with the red token is not fully understood For sustainability researchers as well as for environmental
before the red token's position is considered within the entire policy-makers and managers, another implication of the presented
constellation of other tokens and hence the other function systems solution-focused approach is the need to challenge the prevailing
of society. If the focus is switched from a gaze on the red token to and often-automated over-concentration on economic problems.
the more ecological perspective, then it appears that the red token One concrete challenge in this context is that models based on the
can be moved from the centre to any other, probably more mar- three pillars of sustainabilitydalso known as triple bottom line
ginal, position within the constellation. Still, even this smart move framework (Elkington, 1994; Elkington and Trisoglio, 1996)dwill
is again just one in an almost inexhaustible set of options. Instead of need to rest on more than three pillars in the future. This
remaining concerned with finding the right place for the red token, assumption is consistent with the original idea of the triple bottom
one could also explore what happens if one changes the position of line as a framework “focusing on economic, environmental and,
other tokens. This manoeuvre makes sense even if the ultimate goal increasingly, broader societal consequences” (Elkington and
Trisoglio, 1996, p. 763). It is therefore important to single out and
highlight the significance of individual social factors formerly
contained in the social box such as, for example, public health is-
sues (Garcia et al., 2016). Even more important, however, is a sys-
tematic account of the undeniable incommensurability and
equivalence of the economy and all other function systems of
society.
If the economy is just one out of probably ten systems, then the
economy's environment, too, is only one out of ten environments. If
thisdperhaps not too surprisingdobservation is taken seriously,
then it follows not only that the environment referred to in ob-
servations of Limits to Growth is not the environment per se. In fact,
whenever this environment is referred to as nature, it is not the
environment of the economy (which would be the market), but
Fig. 8. Solution focus: The economy as just one in ten function systems of society rather the environment of natural science. The question, however,
(author provided). remains whether or why environmentalists of all political colours

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Production, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.132
6 S. Roth / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx

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general theoretical model. Eur. J. Soc. Theory 18, 413e430. Prof. Dr. Dr. habil. Steffen Roth is Full Professor of Management at the La Rochelle
Siebenhüner, B., Rodela, R., Ecker, F., 2016. Social learning research in ecological Business School, France, and Research Professor of Digital Sociology at the Kazimieras
economics: A survey. Environ. Sci. Pol. 55, 116e126. Simonavicius University in Vilnius, Lithuania. He is also Honorary Professor of Soci-
Slaughter, R.A., 2012. Welcome to the anthropocene. Futures 44, 119e126. https:// ology at the Yerevan State University, Armenia. He holds a Habilitation in Economic
doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2011.09.004. and Environmental Sociology awarded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University,
Sparrer, I., 2007. Miracle, solution and system: solution focused systemic structural and Research; a PhD in Sociology from the University of Geneva; and a PhD in Man-
constellations for therapy and organisational change. Solutions Books. agement from the Chemnitz University of Technology. He is an associate editor of
Stout, M., 2010. Back to the future: Toward a political economy of love and abun- Kybernetes and the field editor for social systems theory of Systems Research and
dance. Adm. Soc. 42, 3e37. Behavioral Science. The journals his research has been published in include Journal of
Thompson, S., Valentinov, V., 2017. The neglect of society in the theory of the firm: a Business Ethics, Administration and Society, Technological Forecasting and Social Change,
systems-theory perspective. Camb. J. Econ. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/ Journal of Organizational Change Management, Journal of Economic Issues, and Futures.
bew1072. His ORCID profile is available at http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8502-601X.
Valentinov, V., 2014a. The complexityesustainability trade-off in niklas luhmann's

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