Ecological Futures: Systems Theory, Postmodernism, and Participative Learning in an Age of Uncertainty

Introduction The approaching millennium finds organizational theory struggling with at least two streams of thought that often seem quite at odds with each other. On the one hand, we have the call of the environmentally conscious for an ecological organizational theory, based on the perceived need for a (swift) reaction to, and reconceptualization of, industry's role in light of environmental degradation; we also find a different voice, namely that of postmodernists: this is a voice of profound suspicion in any 'project,' a voice that deconstructs attempts at developing theories and warns us that the road to hell is paved with good (and bad) intentions.