THE FIRST PAPER EVER WRITTEN ABOUT UO
As the phenomenon of globalisation starts to affect all aspects of life in the South, increased attention is paid to the role of civil society organisations in social development…
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A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO UNBOUNDED ORGANISATION
By Gavin Andersson
Chapter One: What we ask of our Readers, and What we offer Them
Chapter Two:Introducing the Organisation Workshop
Chapter Three: Clodomir Santos de Morais
Chapter Four:The Beginning of an Organisation Workshop
Looking Back to the Future:
Conversations on Unbounded Organisation
By Gavin Andersson
It is the year 2024, thirty years after the first democratic elections were held in South Africa. A young development anthropologist researcher meets up with a veteran civil society activist and discusses the nature of development organisations that emerged in the first decade of South Africa’s democratic dispensation. The result is a fascinating reflection on what is, what has been and what could be.
Unbounded organisation and the future of socialism
Published in Education as Change Volume 17, Issue 2, 2013
Abstract
This article starts with the question whether the socialism Neville Alexander advocated is a thing of the past or a prospect for the future. It considers two forms of 20th-century socialism, the centrally planned economy and social democracy, in the light of Marx’s concept of accumulation. ‘Accumulation’ names both the logic of capitalism and the dynamic that drives it. A focus on the need to deal with the probability that the accumulation dynamic will falter in the process of moving from capitalism to socialism helps to explain socialism’s decline. ‘Unbounded organisation’ is introduced as a broader concept that includes the ‘bounded’ social organisation that frames capitalism and its accumulation dynamic as a special case. It helps to both explain the decline of socialism and to suggest how to reverse that decline. It is suggested that the socialism of the future can best be defined not as a certain form of social organisation, but rather as the power of the people to choose the set of economic and other institutions that works best for them. Three of Alexander’s contributions to building an unbounded socialism are found in his proposals for grass-roots organising at the neighbourhood level, in his promotion of multilingualism, and in his advocacy of alternative education.
Bounded and Unbounded Organization
Article published on AFRICANUS Vol. 42, 2012
A distinction between bounded organisation and unbounded organisation is proposed and the latter is recommended as more useful to societal endeavour and development. Bounded organisation is auto-centric; unbounded organisation is not. An initial definition of ‘unbounded organisation’ is given, and then clarified and elaborated throughout the article. The application of Kurt Lewin’s social psychology to organisational development illustrates bounded organisation. The United Democratic Front of 1983-1991 is an (admittedly imperfect) example of unbounded organisation. The distinction is defended against criticisms commonly levelled against comprehensive progressive ideas.