The Ecological Vision: Reflections on the American Condition

Description

Periods of great social change reveal a tension between the need for continuity and the need for innovation. The twentieth century has witnessed both radical alteration and tenacious durability in social organization, politics, economics, and art. To comprehend these changes as history and as guideposts to the future, Peter F. Drucker has, over a lifetime, pursued a discipline that he terms social ecology. The writings brought together in The Ecological Vision define the discipline as a sustained inquiry into the man-made environment and an active effort at maintaining equilibrium between change and conservation. The chapters in this volume range over a wide array of disciplines and subject matter. They are linked by a common concern with the interaction of the individual and society, and a common perspective that views economics, technology, politics, and art as dimensions of social experience and expressions of social value. Included here are profiles of such figures as Henry Ford, John C. Calhoun, Soren Kierkegaard, and Thomas Watson; analyses of the economics of Keynes and Schumpeter;and explorations of the social functions of business, management, information, and technology. Drucker's chapters on Japan examine the dynamics of cultural and economic change and afford striking comparisons with similar processes in the West. In the concluding chapter, "Reflections of a Social Ecologist," Drucker traces the development of his discipline through such intellectual antecedents as Alexis de Tocqueville, Walter Bagehot, and Wilhelm von Humboldt. He illustrates the ecological vision, an active, practical, and moral approach to social questions. Peter Drucker summarizes a lifetime of work and exemplifies the communicative clarity that are requisites of all intellectual enterprises. His book will be of interest to economists, business people, foreign affairs specialists, and intellectual historians. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Introduction Part One: American Experiences Introduction to Part One 1. The American Genius Is Political 2. Calhoun's Pluralism 3. Henry Ford: The Last Populist 4. IBM's Watson: Vision for Tomorrow 5. The Myth of American Uniformity Part Two: Economics as a Social Dimension Introduction to Part Two 6. The Economic Basis of American Politics 7. The Poverty of Economic Theory 8. The Delusion of Profits 9. Schumpeter and Keynes 10. Keynes: Economics as a Magical System Part Three: The Social Function of Management Introduction to Part Three 11. Management's Role 12. Management: The Problems of Success 13. Social Innovation: Management's New Dimension Part Four: Business as a Social Institution Introduction to Part Four 14. Can There Be "Business Ethics"? 15. The New Productivity Challenge 16. The Emerging Theory of Manufacturing 17. The Hostile Takeover and Its Discontents Part Five: Work, Tools, and Society Introduction to Part Five 18. Work and Tools 19. Technology, Science, and Culture 20. India and Appropriate Technology 21. The First Technological Revolution and Its Lessions Part Six: The Information-Based Society Introduction to Part Six 22. Information, Communications, and Understanding 23. Information and the Future of the City 24. The Information-Based Organization Part Seven: Japan as Society and Civilization Introduction to Part Seven 25. A View of Japan through Japanese Art 26. Japan: The Problems of Success 27. Behind Japan's Success 28. Misinterpreting Japan and the Japanese 29. How Westernized Are the Japanese? Part Eight: Why Society Is Not Enough Introduction to Part Eight 30. The Unfashionable Kierkegaard Afterword: Reflections of a Social Ecologist Index