How the festschrift came about

Citation

Scott, B., Misheva, V. and van Dijkum, C. (2006), "How the festschrift came about", Kybernetes, Vol. 35 No. 3/4. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.2006.06735caa.002

How the festschrift came about

How the festschrift came about

The three editors of this festschrift are all members of Research Committee 51 (RC51) on Sociocybernetics of the International Sociological Association (ISA). (For more information about these organisations, please visit the web sites: www.unizar.es/sociocybernetics/ and www.ucm.es/info/isa/)

For several years, all three have been active members of the RC51 Board, helping to organise conferences, producing the RC51 newsletter, editing and contributing to the online Journal of Sociocybernetics. In those capacities we have become familiar with Felix Geyer as a person and as the main driving force that has sustained and developed the RC51 sociocybernetics community. Felix has shown extraordinary energy and commitment in his various roles within RC51. In retirement, as an Honorary President, he continues to make major contributions to RC51, encouraging, motivating, advising, and monitoring.

Here is a brief extract from the RC51 web site which may help to give the reader a sense of what sociocybernetics is all about and which also highlights Felix's contributions.

The RC51 of the ISA is one of the more than 50 research committees which, along with a large number of national sociological associations, constitute the ISA.

Sociocybernetics can be defined as “systems science in sociology and other social sciences” – systems science, because sociocybernetics is not limited to theory but includes application, empirical research, methodology, axiology (i.e. ethics and value research), and epistemology. In general use, “systems theory” and “cybernetics” are frequently interchangeable or appear in combination. Hence, they can be considered as synonyms, although the two terms come from different traditions and are not used uniformly in different languages and national traditions.

Sociocybernetics includes both what are called first- and second-order cybernetics. Cybernetics, according to Wiener's original definition, is the science of “control and communication in the animal and the machine”. Heinz von Foerster went on to distinguish a first-order cybernetics, “the study of observed systems”, and a second-order cybernetics, “the study of observing systems”. Second-order cybernetics is explicitly based on a constructivist epistemology and is concerned with issues of self-reference, paying particular attention to the observer-dependence of knowledge, including scientific theories. In the interdisciplinary and holistic spirit of systems science, although sociology is clearly at the center of interest of sociocybernetics, the other social sciences, such as psychology, anthropology, political science, etc. are addressed as well, emphases depending on the particular research question to be dealt with.

The group was founded in 1980 as an ISA Ad Hoc Group by Francisco Parra-Luna, who organized its sessions at subsequent World Congresses of Sociology (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994). The group became a Thematic Group and finally a Working Group of the ISA. In 1992, it was demoted back to Thematic Group for lack of activities. In 1995, it was reactivated under the leadership of < Felix Geyer, and the first board was elected with Kenneth Bailey, USA, as President and Felix Geyer, The Netherlands, as Secretary. The group was re-recognized by the ISA first as a Working Group and at the 1998 World Congress of Sociology in Montreal as a Research Committee. It grew from some 30 members in early 1995 to about 240 members at the time of the 1998 World Congress of Sociology in Brisbane. At that point about half of these members were also individual members of the parent association ISA.

With the approach of Felix's 70th birthday, Vessela Misheva, Vice President of RC51, proposed the creation of a Festschrift in his honour. Bernard Scott and Cor van Dijkum were recruited as Co-Editors. A list of potential contributors was drawn up and Misheva lead on the task of recruiting them. As can be seen from the contents listing, 20 individuals eventually submitted papers for inclusion in the festschrift. The letter of invitation asked for personal reflections, research papers or a mix of the two. Research papers were asked to make specific reference to Felix's work or to the areas in which he has been active (sociocybernetics and alienation theory).

All papers were reviewed by at least two referees. This process was managed mainly by Misheva with the assistance of Devorah Kalelah-Fishman, or van Dijkum and Hahs van der Zouwen. As a native speaker of English, with prior experience of editing special issues for Kybernetes, Scott took on the tasks of delivering reviewers feedback to contributors and of eliciting final versions of papers.

Curriculum vitae, Rudolf Felix Geyer

Born: October 14, 1933, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; E-mail: geyer@xs4all.nl;

Web site: www.unizar.es/sociocybernetics/chen/felix.html

Education

1940-1945: Primary school, in Naarden and Zeist;

1945-1951: Secondary school (gymnasium b, i.e. including Latin and Greek) in Zeist;

1951-1954: Geology, University of Amsterdam (up to BA-level);

1954-1961: Sociology, University of Amsterdam:

• “candidaatsexamen” (in between BA and MA) in July 1956;

• “doctoraalexamen”, i.e. the completion of a Dutch post-graduate education; it is a terminal degree, conveying full rights to teach; an (optional) PhD requires no further courses or examinations; therefore, roughly equivalent to American doctoral examination, excluding final thesis; resulting in title: “doctorandus” (drs); in July 1961.

1973-1980: Doctoral thesis in preparation on applicability of general systems theory to alienation theory; dissertation supervisors: Prof. Alvin W. Gouldner (1973-1976) and prof. Hiddo M. Jolles (1976-1980); was published in 1980 by Pergamon Press in its Systems Science and World Order Library (see under Publications); resulted in title Dr in May 1980.

Work experience

July 1961-December 1962: Project Manager, NIMM (Netherlands Institute for Motivation and Marketing Research), Amsterdam.

January 1963-August 1963: Participant observation of kibbutz life in Israel, including half-year course in Hebrew and study at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

September 1963-July 1964: Research Associate/Lecturer, Institute of Descriptive Sociology, University of Amsterdam (evaluation of community development projects in underdeveloped countries).

September 1964-August 1968: Research Director, OAR (Foundation for Labor Market Research in the Rhine Delta Area), Rotterdam. Invited for this function by Professor Jacques van Doorn, Department of Sociology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, who initiated the collaboration of municipal and regional authorities, business and labor unions in the above mentioned foundation.

Its purpose: to find solutions for the structural labor shortages in the Rotterdam area, caused by the rapid post-war expansion that resulted in its becoming the world's biggest harbor in 1962.

Publications: research reports on acceptance and social adaptation of foreign labor, on possibilities for and attitudes towards married women in part-time jobs, and on migration motives of migrants to and from the Rhine Delta (Rotterdam) Area. The latter research project, based on an nationwide sample of 1600 respondents, was subsidized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, while the final report received considerable newspaper and television coverage, even abroad.

September 1968-1998: Head of the Methodology Division at SISWO, Amsterdam. SISWO – a Dutch acronym for Netherlands Universities' Institute for Coordination of Research in Social Sciences – was founded in 1960 by the social science departments of all Dutch universities. It is governed by a board consisting of representatives of these departments.

SISWO's tasks include in principle all those tasks that are beyond the scope of a single social science department, such as:

^.Nationwide coordination of information exchange between social science departments of different universities concerning: research in progress, publications, expected “empty” research capacity, standardization of teaching materials, etc.

• Mediation between government institutions – such as the Ministries of Education and Sciences; Social Affairs; Mental Health; Culture, Recreation and Social Work; Science Policy; the National Physical Planning Service; the Foundation for Scientific Research, the Dutch NSF – interested to initiate and subsidize certain projects, and university departments able and willing to carry them out. SISWO's mediation stretches from the planning stage to the delivery of the final report, and involves scientific as well as organizational and budgetary aspects.

• Stimulation of nationwide coordination in the development of university teaching programs, e.g. inter-university cooperation in the development of specialized audiovisual courses, computer software, etc.

• Stimulation of nationwide and increasingly also international coordination of interuniversity research programs, e.g. working with specialists in different fields towards consensus over research priorities, allocation of money and resources, etc. often on the basis of exploratory research, memoranda or trend reports prepared by SISWO.

SISWO is divided in a number of divisions, each engaged in all of the above activities within its own field – in Geyer's case mainly statistics, general methodology, research methods and techniques, and methodological aspects of cybernetics/general systems theory and alienation theory.

Job-related functions

1964-1970: Board member of the foundation “Academisch Centrum voor Sociologisch Onderzoek” (Academic Centre for Sociological Research), Amsterdam;

1970-1974: Treasurer (1970-1972) and Board Member (1972-1974) of the Systeemgroep Nederland (Dutch Society for Systems Research), Utrecht;

1970-1977: Coordinator of the Working Group on Social Systems of the above organization;

1971-1979: Secretary, Research Committee on the Sociology of Mental Health of the ISA. In this capacity also: Editor of the Newsletter of this Research Committee, and Chairman of its session on “Social structure and personality” at the 8th World Congress of Sociology (Toronto, 1974); co-organizer, with Chairman Professor N.W. Bell and Vice-Chairman Dr G. Nijhof, of its sessions at the 9th World Congress of Sociology (Uppsala, 1978);

1973-1980: Organizer, together with Professor David Schweitzer (University of British Columbia, Vancouver) of Ad Hoc Group on alienation theory and research of the ISA; prepared in this capacity the scientific program of this group for its sessions during the two above mentioned congresses, with altogether over 100 papers; co-edited with David Schweitzer two volumes with a selection of papers from these sessions: Theories of Alienation – Critical Perspectives in Philosophy and the Social Sciences, The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1976; and Alienation: Problems of Meaning, Theory and Method, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981;

1973-1975: Member of the Research Group on Science Policy, founded jointly by the Dutch Society for Systems Research and SISWO; this group analyzed the national science policies of the Netherlands and other countries, and presented recommendations for a national science policy based on application of systems theory, analysis of the available literature, and national science policy so far;

1974-1975: Initiator and Co-Organizer (with Professor Alvin W. Gouldner and others) of international congress on “New paradigms in social theory”, April 1975 at the Free University, Amsterdam;

1977-1978: Organizer (with Professor J. Rose, Director-General of the World Organization of Systems and Cybernetics, WOSC) of the 4th World Congress of Cybernetics and Systems, Amsterdam, August 1978; Chairman of Local Arrangements Committee, and Co-Organizer and Co-Editor – with Professor J. van der Zouwen, Free University, Amsterdam – of Social Systems Section and Social Systems Symposium, and of a volume with a selection of papers from this congress: Sociocybernetics, Vols. 1 and 2, The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1978;

1979-1984: Board Member, Systeemgroep Nederland;

1980-1981: Co-Organizer (with Professor J. van der Zouwen) of social systems section, 5th International Congress of Cybernetics and Systems (Mexico City, August 1982); Teacher at two-week Summer School on systems theory in Mexico City preceding this congress; and Co-Editor, with Professor J. van der Zouwen of a volume with a selection of papers from this congress: Dependence and Inequality – A Systems Approach to the Problems of Mexico and Other Developing Countries, Oxford, Pergamon Press, 1982;

1980-1986: Secretary, NOSMO (Foundation Netherlands Organization for Social-Scientific Methodological Research), a group comprising some 350 Dutch social science methodologists, with a dozen subgroups on specialized areas within methodology that regularly meet to exchange research results and evaluate research proposals;

1980-1983 and 1987-1988: Secretary, Research Committee on Alienation Theory and Research, ISA, and delegate to the ISA Research Council; coordinated in this capacity the scientific program of the Research Committee for its sessions during the 10th World Congress of Sociology (Mexico City, August 1982); and co-edited with David Schweitzer a volume with a selection of papers from this congress: Alienation Theories and De-alienation Strategies, Northwood: Science Reviews, Ltd.

1983-1986: Executive Secretary, ISA; formally half-time, de facto full-time, on loan from SISWO; regular contacts with some 40 Research Committees, other international organizations (e.g. UNESCO, International Social Science Council), foundations, national sociological associations, ISA-publisher Sage and other publishers (regarding current sociology, international sociology, sage series in international sociology), professional congress organizers; preparation of program (comprising over 500 sessions) for 11th World Congress of Sociology, New Delhi, 1986, and overall organizational coordination of its organizational aspects;

1983-1984: Co-Organizer (with Professor J. van der Zouwen) of Social Systems Section, 6th International Congress of Cybernetics and Systems (Paris, September 10-14, 1984); and Co-Editor of a volume with a selection of papers from this congress: Sociocybernetic Paradoxes – Observation, Control and Evolution of Self-steering Systems, London: Sage, 1986;

1986-1994: Secretary, SoMO (Working Community on Social Science Methodology), a Successor to NOSMO which forms part of the Dutch NWO (National Science Foundation) system; from 1994 onward again renamed NOSMO;

1986-1987: Co-Organizer (with Professor J. van der Zouwen) of social systems section, 7th International Congress of Cybernetics and Systems (London, September 10-14, 1987); and Co-Editor of a volume with a selection of papers from this congress: Self-referencing in Social Systems, Salinas, CA: Intersystems Publications, 1990;

1987-1993: Advisor of the Board, Systeemgroep Nederland (Dutch Society for Systems Research);

1988-1994: President, Research Committee on Alienation Theory and Research; organized in this capacity the sessions of the Research Committee at the 12th and 13th World Congresses of Sociology (Madrid, 1990; and Bielefeld, 1994), and co-edited, with Research Committee Secretary Professor Walter Heinz (Bremen, FRG) a volume with a selection of papers from the Madrid Congress, Alienation, Society, and the Individual – Continuity and Change in Theory and Research, published both as a triple issue of International Journal of Sociology & Social Policy, Vol. 11 No. 6/8, 1991, and as a book: New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1992;

1988-1994: Member of ISA Research Council;

1989-1990: Organizer of Social Systems Section, 8th International Congress of Cybernetics and Systems, New York, 1990; Editor of a volume with a selection of papers from this section and other sections: The Cybernetics of Complex Systems – Self-organization, Evolution, and Social Change, Salinas, CA: Intersystems Publications, 1991;

1991-1994: Member of Executive Committee, ISA;

1992-1998: Secretary-Treasurer, Systeemgroep Nederland (Dutch Society for Systems Research);

1992-1995: Secretary, WgWO (Working Community on Science Research) of the Dutch NWO (National Science Foundation) system;

1993-1998: Secretary-Treasurer, Systeemgroep Nederland;

1994-1998: As 1980-1986 above: Secretary, NOSMO;

1995-1998: Secretary, Thematic Group (since November 1996 Working Group) on Sociocybernetics and Social Systems (WG01), ISA;

1996-1998: Organizer, on behalf of WG01, of Sociocybernetics Section, 10th International Congress of Cybernetics and Systems, Bucharest, August 26-31,1996; edited a volume with a selection of papers entitled: Sociocybernetics: Complexity, Dynamics and Emergence in Social Science, and Session Coordinator of WG01 sessions at 14th World Congress of Sociology, Montreal, Canada, July 26-August 1, 1998.

1998-present: Honorary President and Newsletter Co-Editor, Research Committee on Sociocybernetics (RC51, ISA); since 2000 Co-Editor of electronic Journal of Sociocybernetics, available at: www.unizar.es/sociocybernetics/Journal/index.html.

Felix Geyer, Publications

(See also Felix's website at: www.unizar.es/sociocybernetics/chen/felix where many of his paper can be downloaded.)

Books

1. 1.

   R.F. Geyer and D. Schweitzer (Eds.) (1976)Theories of Alienation – Critical Perspectives in Philosophy and the Social Sciences, Martinus Nijhoff Social Sciences Division, The Hague, (340 p.)

2. 2.

   R.F. Geyer and J. van der Zouwen (Eds.) (1978), Sociocybernetics (2 Vols.), Martinus Nijhoff Social Sciences Division, The Hague, (312 p.)

3. 3.

   J. Berting, R.F. Geyer and R. Jurkovich (Eds.) (1980), Problems in International Comparative Research in the Social Sciences, Pergamon Press, Oxford, (180 p.). Japanese translation: Tokyo: Tuttle-Mori Agency, 1988.

4. 4.

   R.F. Geyer (1980), Alienation Theories: A General Systems Approach, Pergamon Press, Oxford, (201p.)

5. 5.

   R.F. Geyer and D. Schweitzer (Eds.) (1981), Alienation: Problems of Meaning, Theory and Method, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1981 (283 p.)

6. 6.

   R.F. Geyer and J. van der Zouwen (Eds.) (1982), Dependence and Inequality – A Systems Approach to the Problems of Mexico and Other Developing Countries, Pergamon Press, Oxford, (326 p.)

7. 7.

   R.F. Geyer and J. van der Zouwen (Eds.) (1984), special issue on Sociocybernetics, Kybernetes, Vol. 13 No. 3.

8. 8.

   R.F. Geyer and J. van der Zouwen (Eds) (1986), Sociocybernetic Paradoxes – Observation, Control and Evolution of Self-steering Systems, Sage, London (224 p.)

9. 9.

   R.F. Geyer and D. Schweitzer (Eds) (1989), Alienation Theories and De-Alienation Strategies – Comparative Perspectives in Philosophy and the Social Sciences, Science Reviews, Ltd, Northwood (368 p.)

10. 10.

    R.F. Geyer and J. van der Zouwen (Eds.) (1990), Self-referencing in Social Systems, Intersystems Publications, Salinas, CA (201 p.)

11. 11.

    R.F. Geyer (Ed.) (1991), The Cybernetics of Complex Systems – Self-Organization, Evolution and Social Change, Intersystems Publicatons, Salinas, CA, (257 p.)

12. 12.

    R.F. Geyer and W.R. Heinz (Eds) (1992) Alienation, Society, and the Individual, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ, Also appeared as triple issue of International Journal of Sociology & Social Policy, Vol. 11 No. 6/8, 1991 (256 p.)

13. 13.

    R.F. Geyer (Ed.) (1996), Alienation, Ethnicity, and Postmodernism. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT.

14. 14.

    R.F. Geyer (Ed.) (1997), Sociocybernetics: Complexity, Dynamics, and Emergence in Social Science, MCB University Press, Bradford, special double issue of Kybernetes, Vol. 26, Nos. 6/7.

15. 15.

    R.F. Geyer and J. van der Zouwen (Eds) (2001) Sociocybernetics: Complexity, Autopoiesis, and Observation of Social Systems, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT.

Chapters in books

1. 1.

   “Alienation and stress: a review of their modern forms from the perspective of General Systems Theory”, pp. 72-83 in: Systems Thinking and the Quality of Life (Clair K. Blong, Ed.), Society for General Systems Research, Washington, 1975.

2. 2.

   (co-authored with D. Schweitzer): “Introduction”, pp. xiv-xxv in Theories of Alienation, op. cit., 1976.

3. 3.

   “General systems theory and the growth of the individual's inner complexity as a function of time”, pp. 32-50 in: Modern Trends in Cybernetics and Systems (J. Rose, Ed.), Editura Tehnica, Bucharest, 1977.

4. 4.

   “Individual alienation and information processing: a systems theoretical conceptualization”, pp. 189-223 in Theories of Alienation, op. cit.

5. 5.

   “Interpersonal versus societal alienation: a systems theoretical perspective on the dilemmas involved in the management of environmental complexity”, Systems Research, 1976.

6. 6.

   “Personality traits and problems of global planners”, pp. 207-220 in Goals in a Global Community – Original Studies of the Goals for Mankind Report to the Club of Rome, Vol. I: Studies on the Conceptual Foundations (E. Laszlo, Ed.), UNITAR Publications and Pergamon Press, New York/London, 1977.

7. 7.

   “Entfremdung und stress: aus der perspektive der allgemeinen systemtheorie” (German translation of Alienation and Stress, op. cit.), pp. 97-114 in: Die gesellschaftliche Konstruktion der Entfremdung (Michael Brenner and Hermann Strasser, Eds.), Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New York, NY, 1977.

8. 8.

   “`Two separate realities': dyadic communication problems resulting from interpersonal differences in internal complexity”, pp. 873-90 in: Applied General Systems Research (George J. Klir, Ed.), Plenum Press, New York, NY, 1978.

9. 9.

   “A systems theoretical reconceptualization of some defense mechanisms”, pp. xx-yy in: The Psychoanalytic Process (J. Katwan, Ed.), Gardner Press, New York, NY; and pp. xx-yy in: Der Psychoanalytische Prozess (J. Katwan, Ed.). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1979.

10. 10.

    “Diminishing stress through environmental complexity reduction: countering the modern forms of alienation by learning how to cope with information overload”, pp. 312-321 in: Avoiding Social Catastrophes and Maximizing Socia Opportunities: The General Systems Challenge (Richard F. Ericson, Ed.), Society for General Systems Research, Washington, DC, 1978.

11. 11.

    (co-authored with J. van der Zouwen) “Introduction”, pp. 1-14 in Sociocybernetics, op. cit., 1978.

12. 12.

    (co-authored with D. Schweitzer) “Advances and priorities in alienation theory and research”, pp. 1-17 in: Alienation: Problems of Meaning, Theory and Method, op. cit., 1981.

13. 13.

    “A general systems approach to psychiatric and sociological de-alienation”, pp. 139-74 in: Alienation and Anomie Revisited (S. Shoham, ed.), Ramot Publications, Tel Aviv, 1982.

14. 14.

    (co-authored with J. van der Zouwen) “Introduction”, pp. ix-xiii in Dependence and Inequality, op. cit., 1982.

15. 15.

    (co-authored with J. van der Zouwen) “Systems views on development problems: a summary”, pp. 307-26 in Dependence and Inequality, op. cit., 1982.

16. 16.

    (co-authored with J. van der Zouwen) “Introduction”, pp. 1-8 and “Epilogue: Sociocybernetics as the evolving interface between social science and cybernetics”, pp. 206-14 in Sociocybernetic Paradoxes, op. cit., 1986.

17. 17.

    (co-authored with J. van der Zouwen) “Self-referencing in social systems”, pp. 1-29 in Self-referencing in Social Systems, op cit., 1990.

18. 18.

    (co-authored with M. Boden, H. Maturana, G. Pask, and F. Heylighen) “Old and New Cybernetics: A Panel Discussion”, pp. 33-46 in Self-Steering and Cognition in Complex Systems (F. Heylighen, E. Rosseel and F. Demeyere, eds.), Gordon and Breach, New York, 1990.

19. 19.

    “Introduction”, pp. xi-xix in: The Cybernetics of Complex Systems, op. cit., 1991.

20. 20.

    (co-authored with W.R. Heinz): “Introduction”, pp. xi-xxxiii in: Alienation, Society, and the Individual, op. cit., 1991.

21. 21.

    (co-authored with J. van der Zouwen): “Sociocybernetics”, pp. 95-124 in: Handbook of Cybernetics (C.V. Negoita, Ed.), Marcel Dekker, New York, NY, 1992.

22. 22.

    “Alienation”, in International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Elsevier, London, 2001, pp. 388-92.

23. 23.

    “Sociocybernetics”, in International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences., Elsevier, London, 2001, pp. 14549-54.

Articles

1. 1.

   “Normpercepties en ego-idealen bij aspirant-groepsleden” (“Norm perceptions and ego ideals in new group members”), a study based on 850 interviews with students and freshmen in the Amsterdam Student Corporation, making use of Osgood's semantic differential technique to test eight hypotheses (seven confirmed) about changes in norm perceptions and ego-ideals in the course of the so-called “freshmen's period”. Sociologische Gids, Vol. 8 No. 5 pp. 209-33, September/October 1961 (see also Sociological Abstracts, Vol. 17 No. 1, p. D4835, February 1969)

2. 2.

   “Om de leefbaarheid van de Rijnmond” (“On the liveability of the Rhine Delta Area”), Intermediair, pp. 43-9, August 1, 1969.

3. 3.

   (co-authored with L.A. Welters): “In een verwaarloosd leefklimaat stagneert de welvaartsproductie” (“The production of wellbeing stagnates in a neglected living climate”), Algemeen Handelsblad, August 30, 1969.

4. 4.

   (co-authored with E. Bonsèl): “We moeten de groentijd handhaven” (“We have to maintain the freshmen period”), report on the positive functions of this socialization period in a changing student environment, based on a study by both authors of the Amsterdam Student Corporation, Panorama, September 5, 1969.

5. 5.

   “Ik wacht op de volgende gedachte” (“I'm waiting for the next thought”), report on the 6th International Congress of Sociodrama and Psychodrama, Amsterdam, August 1971, Algemeen Handelsblad, September 4, 1971.

6. 6.

   “Alienation and general systems theory” (development of a conceptual framework derived from GST, used to integrate different theoretical approaches to, and explanations of, alienation), Sociologia Neerlandica, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 18-41, May 1974, and also Sociologische Gids, Vol. 212 No. 4, pp. 225-46, July/August 1974.

7. 7.

   “Verder over vervreemding – antwoord aan Heunks” (“More on alienation – answer to Heunks”), Sociologische Gids, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 394-8, November/December 1974.

8. 8.

   “The sociocybernetic paradox: a short introduction”, Kybernetes, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 129-31.

9. 9.

   “Political alienation and environmental complexity reduction”, Kybernetes, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 11-31, 1990.

10. 10.

    (with J. van der Zouwen): “Self-referencing in social systems”, pp. 1-30 in: Self-referencing in Social Systems, op. cit.

11. 11.

    “Report of the sociocybernetics section”, 8th International Congress of Cybernetics and Systems, New York, 1990 Kybernetes, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp.59-61, 1991.

12. 12.

    “Modern forms of alienation in high-complexity environments: a systems approach”, Kybernetes Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 10-28, 1991.

13. 13.

    (co-authored with J. van der Zouwen): “Cybernetics and social science: Theories and research in sociocybernetics”, Kybernetes, Vol. 20 No. 6, pp. 81-92, 1991.

14. 14.

    “Alienation in community and society: effects of increasing environmental complexity”, Kybernetes, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 33-49, 1992.

15. 15.

    “Autopoiesis and social systems”, Intern. Journal of General Systems, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 175-83, 1992.

16. 16.

    “Answer to Zeleny and Hufford”, International Journal of General Systems, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 259-61.

17. 17.

    “Alienation, participation, and increasing societal complexity”, Kybernetes, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 10-34, 1994.

18. 18.

    (co-authored with J. van der Zouwen): “Norbert Wiener and the Social Sciences”, Kybernetes, Vol. 23 No. 6/7, pp. 46-61, 1994.

19. 19.

    “The challenge of sociocybernetics”, Kybernetes, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 6-32, 1995.

20. 20.

    (co-authored with J. van der Zouwen and W. Dijkstra) “Transforming results of `methods research' into guidelines used in survey practice”, Systemica, Vol. 10 No. 1-6, pp. 227-42, 1995.

21. 21.

    “Virtual communities in cyberspace”, Kybernetes, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 60-6, 1996.

22. 22.

    “Introduction – The promise of Sociocybernetics: Solving Problems in Social Science”, Kybernetes, Vol. 26 No. 6/7, pp. 634-8, 1997.

23. 23.

    “Pockets of irrationality in an increasingly rational world: an effort to simplify unmanageable environmental overcomplexity?”, Kybernetes, Vol. 30 No. 9/10, pp. 1155-76, 2001.

24. 24.

    “The march of self-reference”, Kybernetes, Vol. 31 No. 7/8, pp. 1021-42, 2002.

25. 25.

    “Globalization and sustainability: the cynics, the romantics and the realists”, Kybernetes, Vol. 32 No. 9/10, pp. 1235-52, 2003.

Published research reports and miscellaneous

1. 1.

   Bermtoerisme (“Roadside recreation”, a report for the National Physical Planning Service, based on interviews). Amsterdam, NIMM (Nederlands Instituut voor Motivation en Marketing Research), 1961.

2. 2.

   Plaatskaartenautomaten (“Ticket machines”, a report for Dutch Railways on public reactions to the introduction of ticket machines). Amsterdam, NIMM (Nederlands Instituut voor Motivation en Marketing Research), 1961.

3. 3.

   De toekomsttrein (“The train of the future”, report for Dutch Railways on public reactions to different train interiors, based on 400 interviews with travellers in different train types). Amsterdam, NIMM (Nederlands Instituut voor Motivation en Marketing Research), 1962.

4. 4.

   Het image van B.P. (“The image of B.P.”, a company image and brand image research for British Petroleum). Amsterdam, NIMM (Nederlands Instituut voor Motivation en Marketing Research), 1962.

5. 5.

   Rijnmond Feiten, Vols. I and II (“Rhine Delta Facts”, demographic analysis of the Rhine Delta Area: migration, housing, foreign labor, married women in the labor force, migratory labor, etc.). Rotterdam, OAR (Stichting Onderzoek Arbeidssituatie Rijnmondgebied), 1965.

6. 6.

   De gehuwde werkende vrouw (“Married women in the labor force”, a trend report on the international literature, with bibliography). Rotterdam, OAR (Stichting Onderzoek Arbeidssituatie Rijnmondgebied), 1965.

7. 7.

   Productiviteit en arbeidsverhoudingen (“Productivity and labor relations”, results of a pilot study on the influence of the labor climate). Rotterdam, OAR (Stichting Onderzoek Arbeidssituatie Rijnmondgebied), 1966.

8. 8.

   Buitenlandse arbeidskrachten (“Foreign labor”, results of a study based on interviews with 100 Spanish laborers, conducted in Spanish, 100 Dutch laborers and 50 foremen in the Rotterdam area). Rotterdam, OAR (Stichting Onderzoek Arbeidssituatie Rijnmondgebied), 1967.

9. 9.

   Bibliografie project “Productiviteit en regionale arbeidsverhoudingen” (“Bibliography project `productivity and regional labor relations'”. Rotterdam, OAR (Stichting Onderzoek Arbeidssituatie Rijnmondgebied), 1967.

10. 10.

    Productiviteit en regionale arbeidsverhoudingen, Vols. I and II (“Productivity and regional labor relations”, report of a study based on 1,600 interviews with migrants to and from the Rotterdam area, focusing on migration motives in the sphere of both work and living conditions; leading to several interviews in national daily newspapers and on German television as a result of publication of this study). Rotterdam, OAR (Stichting Onderzoek Arbeidssituatie Rijnmondgebied), 1968.

11. 11.

    (co-edited, with J.R. van Klinken): Register van computerprogramma's voor statistische technieken en toepassingen (“Register of computer programs for statistical techniques and applications”, a collection of social science computer programs available at both university and non-university institutes in the Netherlands. Amsterdam, SISWO, 1970.

12. 12.

    Bibliography Alienation (a 600-item bibliography on alienation and related subjects). Amsterdam, SISWO, 1970.

13. 13.

    Bibliography Alienation, 2nd enlarged edition (in English), 1260 references, see also Sociological Abstracts, Vol. 20 No. 6, p. F1308, October 1972.

14. 14.

    (co-edited, with J.R. van Klinken): Register of computer programs for social science applications (a list of computer program descriptions made available by the University of Wisconsin). Amsterdam, SISWO, 1972.

15. 15.

    Bibliography Alienation – supplement to 2nd enlarged edition (643 new references). Amsterdam, SISWO, 1974.

16. 16.

    (co-edited, with T. Johannisse), papers presented at the 8th World Congress of Sociology and the 69th Annual meeting, ASA, Toronto/Montreal, August 1974 (papers compiled at SISWO from Dutch and Belgian participants)

17. 17.

    (co-edited, with I.C. Grondel and C. van Reden), Bibliography Alienation, 3rd revised and enlarged edition, over 7,000 references), Amsterdam, SISWO, 1980.

18. 18.

    (co-edited, with J. van der Zouwen), A Bibliography of Social Cybernetics (300 references), Amsterdam, SISWO, 1991.

19. 19.

    “Alienation, participation, and increasing societal complexity”, presidential address delivered at International Conference on New Trends in Organizations: Their Impact on Participation, De-alienation and Performance, Givat Haviva, Israel, April 14-17, 1993)

20. 20.

    “The increasing convergence of social science and cybernetics”, invited address for plenary opening session, 10th International Congress of Cybernetics and Systems, Bucharest, August 26-31,1996.

21. 21.

    “From simplicity to complexity: adapting to the irreversibility of accelerating change”, paper presented in RC51 Session 13, 14th World Congress of Sociology, Montreal, July 26-August 1, 1998.

22. 22.

    “Sociocybernetics and the new alienations”, paper presented in RC51 Session 16, 14th World Congress of Sociology, Montreal, 26 July-1 August 1998.

23. 23.

    “Pockets of irrationality in an increasingly rational world: an effort to simplify unmanageable environmental overcomplexity?”, paper presented at First International Conference on Sociocybernetics, Kolimbari, Greece, May 24-29, 1999. See also sub C, 23.

24. 24.

    “Globalization and sustainability: the cynics, the romantics and the realists”, paper presented at the Second International Conference on Sociocybernetics, Panticosa, Spain, June 26-July 1, 2000. See also sub C, 25.

25. 25.

    “The March of Self-Reference”, paper presented at the 3rd International Conference on Sociocybernetics, Leon, Mexico, June 25-29, 2001.

26. 26.

    “Powerlessness vs passionlessness: north 'meets' south at the WTC”, paper presented in RC51 session at the 15th World Congress of Sociology, Brisbane, July 2002.

27. 27.

    “'Continental drift': the causes and possible consequences of American unilateralism” Paper prepared for the 4th International Conference on Sociocybernetics, organized by the Research Committee on Sociocybernetics of the ISA, Corfu, Greece, June 30-July 5, 2003.

B. ScottDefence Academy, Cranfield University, Shrivenham, UKV. MishevaUppsala University, Uppsala, SwedenC. van DijkumUniversity of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands