Towards policy forums of requisite variety and integration

Through Metaphor to a Sustainable Ecology of Development Policies (Part #8)

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Space here precludes a detailed exploration of some of the unexplored possibilities following from the above proposal. In some cases expressed in metaphoric terms, they might include:

(a) Reversal of the resource personnel/participant ratio: Policy forums tend to use the same ratio as that for teacher/pupil in schools. It can be argued that if the complexity of what such forums are trying to encompass is greater than the task of an operation by a surgical team or of getting man to the moon, then a greater proportion of resources needs to be devoted to the resource personnel and the functions that they might perform. Why is it assumed that the processes occurring in policy forums are so simple that they only require limited support skills to ensure their viability, balance, control and healthy development ? The policy challenge is surely greater than that of focussing resources to get a space shuttle into orbit -- a greater number of checks and balances is required.

(b) Selection of integrative metaphors: The complexity with which policy forums are intended to deal is such that any normal mode of articulation can not encompass it and remain comprehensible and communicable. The forum should select the metaphor that encodes its concerns most appropriately. The metaphor is not appropriate if it fails to encode the position and dynamics of the different factions and viewpoints represented. Conventional verbal articulations should be interrelated by reference to the metaphor and its dynamics.

(c) Encoding policy alternation: A major challenge arises from policies which are inherently incompatible or mutually antagonistic, even though they each attract significant support. Although there is always hope that some magical compromise may be discovered to reconcile their perspectives, it is quite probable that they cannot effectively co-exist. They may however 'co-exist' over time in a 'policy cycle' in which Policy A operates for a period, followed by Policy B, followed by Policy A again. This cyclic process is implicit in changes of government in a democracy but currently is more spastic than cyclic. It can only be rendered comprehensible and credible by suitable metaphors of which a particular appropriate one is crop rotation (Annex 5). Such a cycle may require 4 or 5distinct phases to ensure sustainability of production.

(d) Alternating between metaphors within a set: It would be naive to assume that the complexity of sustainable development can be satisfactorily encapsulated within a single theory, model or policy, however complex -- or within any single metaphor, however rich. It may however be possible to select or design a set of distinct metaphors which capture different aspects of sustainable development, just as the 'incompatible' wave and particle theories are used in physics to capture dimensions of a reality that cannot be adequately articulated. Offering greater insight is the alternation within a pattern of distinct structures as illustrated by the concept of resonce hybrids in chemistry (see Annex 6). Such a set then provides an integrative framework for the incompatible policy perspectives represented in a forum. Policy discussion could then explore different ways of cycling through such metaphors (Judge 1984b, 1988b). It is useful to consider ways of relating variable organizational which might result from such policies, as indicated in Figure 2 of Annex 3 (Judge 1986b).

(e) Non-linear policy formulations: It could be argued that one of the main reasons for the failure to reconcile incompatible policies is the form in which any policy is expressed. This reflects the linearity of lists of meeting agenda items, of the organization of the proceedings of the meeting and of the recommendations or resolutions. Such linearity is then embodied into the hierarchical structure and inter-departmental relationships of the institutions mandated to implement the policy. To reflect the complexity of sustainable development such documents as the Brundtland Report should also be available in a non-linear presentation which honours the complex relationships between its policy implications as well as those of other initiatives. A linear presentation is not sensitive to the dimensions of most significance to sustainable development --dimensions which may be dear to this or that constituency and are thus alienated from its thrust.

(f) Remedial metaphors: It is worth exploring current uses of metaphors for therapeutic purposes because of their articulation of a methodology which may offer insights for furthering understanding of how to heal rifts between constituencies (Gordon, 1978; Hillman, 1983).

(g) Vulnerability to powerful metaphors: It should be recognized that powerful metaphors can be used to support policies which may totally inconsistent with those of sustainable development. It is important to understand the current vulnerability to such metaphors (for example, those forumulated so successfully within modern sects and cults) and to determine means of protection against them. It is probable that there exists a considerable market for a new metaphor of Hitlerian dimensions.

(h) Designing the metaphor through which the forum outcome is to be perceived: At present the public relations function tends to be poorly integrated into the conceptual issues of policy formulation. The image is divorced from the content. But the metaphor(s) used to encompass the policy debate may also be used to explain its dimensions to wider society. As a complement to the turgid text of the standard 'Press Release', the challenge is to provide a new metaphor or image which offers an empowering insight into new directions integral to the policies through which they can be given form. (If such metaphors are not designed, they tend to be supplied by the media -- often as cynical and disempowering cartoons.)"

(i) Library of dynamic imagery: Policy forums could benefit from direct access to projections of dynamic images that can be used metaphorically to clarify complex relationships. Such images could be used as 'conceptual scaffolding' or 'crutches' to render credible new patterns of relationship on which policies of a higher order can be built. Current computer animation techniques can give comprehensible form to physically 'impossible' structures, which may prove to be of complexity adequate to the task of encompassing disparate policy dimensions.

The above points suggest that a breakthrough in complex policy forums may be possible if more resources are devoted to the 'conceptual logistics' of how meaning is engendered, moved and focussed by the different constituencies represented. This does not constitute a denial of the merit of conventional forms of debate which provide the 'pillars' of policy formulation. Rather it suggests that having constructed the pillars, something quite radically different must be done to bridge between them to provide the basis for a common policy 'roof' over our heads to protect us from the crises we face. Metaphor could well provide us with the 'keystones' for such bridging.

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