Cultivating Collectives

How do the principles of systems work show up in the day-to-day activities of organizations? Chapters 4 to 7 describe four practices of systems work, demonstrating how the principles from Chapter 3 are put into action. Chapter 4 describes a key role for organizations, which is to cultivate collectives comprised of primary actors: people who are immersed in a social issue and who often have lived experience of the social issue itself. It is a seemingly innocuous role that can have profound consequences. The organizations visited for the research are each doing this in different ways, yet with similar objectives. Through peer groups, incubators, learning circles, committees, and numerous other structures, these organizations are cultivating collectives that enable individuals, families, and groups to gain new perspectives while learning together—ultimately creating an action system for broader change.

Oscillations in Planar Deficiency-One Mass-Action Systems

Whereas the positive equilibrium of a planar mass-action system with deficiency zero is always globally stable, for deficiency-one networks there are many different scenarios, mainly involving oscillatory behaviour. We present several examples, with centers or multiple limit cycles.

The Uniqueness of Megeret Pandan Tradition as Tourist Attraction in Tenganan Village, Karangasem, Bali

Megeret Pandan or mekare-kare is a tradition in Tenganan Village, Karangasem. This tradition is related to local ritual activities and beliefs in which all men from children to adults take turn performing in an arena to play dexterity match as fighters by using pandan leaves, a shield from rattan wicker and traditional costume. This tradition is potential to be tourist attraction since the tourists are welcome to participate. The purpose of this study is to determine the existence the tradition of Megeret Pandan as a tourist attraction in Tenganan Village and its relation to the defense of ancestral heritage. This study used qualitative method and it was conducted through inductive process. The theory was Structural Functional Theory of Talcott Parson concerning action system, in which the objective conditions were united with collective commitment upon certain value for the development of a social action form. Based on the research finding, it was concluded that the tradition of Megeret Pandan which was packaged in such a way as tourist attraction could be tourist attraction without leaving the sacred values within.

The applicability of Parsons’ action system to the food system

In this paper Talcott Parsons’ systems theory is applied to the food system. After the introduction of the basic categories of the food system, the main elements of Parsons’ theory are drawn up. Then, the detailed analysis takes place on three abstraction levels: within the general paradigm of human condition, the action system and the social system. During the analysis, two conclusions are formulated: one of them is in connection with the correction of abstraction levels concerning the food system, the other one creates the classes of the food system that can be corresponded to the four Parsonsian functions. In the end of the study, a final conclusion is formulated.

Old Wines in New Bottles? Private Securities Litigation in China’s New Securities Law

Private securities litigation has been very weak since the establishment of China’s stock market some 30 years ago. A new law on securities took effect in March 2020 and introduces some reformist changes to this area. This article will examine the likely effect of the new Securities Law on this form of litigation. In particular, it will examine China’s most celebrated ‘quasi-class action’ system, i.e. Special Representative Litigation. This procedure is borrowed from Taiwan’s non-profit organization model. The essay argues that, since the new Securities Law has made only limited efforts in addressing the primary reason for the weak private securities litigation, namely, lack of judicial independence, it is unlikely to make any significant changes to private securities litigation in China. Keywords: private securities litigation; securities law; class action; cost of litigation; judicial independence.