Giampietro, Mario. 1994. "Using Hierarchy Theory to Explore the Concept of Sustainable Development." Futures 26(6): 616-625.

Thesis:

Hierarchy theory provides a useful, historically informed, scientific tool for assessing human-ecosystem dynamics in relation to sustainability.

Summary:

Giampietro argues that traditional, reductionistic approaches to the issues surrounding sustainable development will not be adequate to understand the dynamics of complex systems over time and space. We need an enlarged picture that "considers hierarchical levels, more different space- and timescales; put another way, a more historical perspective" (p.624).

Hierarchy theory provides a useful tool in that endeavor. Hierarchy theory suggests that the contrasts in values between humans, societies, and ecosystems "result from descriptions of the same process at different levels with in the same hierarchy. Put another way, the coexistence of more hierarchical levels in socioeconomic systems implies an unavoidable coexistence of conflicting values" (p.617). Giampietro provides a few basic principles of the theory as it can be adapted to social systems before applying it specifically to the sustainable development debate (pp.617-19):

Hierarchy as a system of filters. Society, as a higher level in the hierarchy, changes less frequently, and its rules act as a filter, or a system of constraints, to the higher frequency of changes in the actions of the components (individuals) of the lower level.

Holons and the dual nature of hierarchical systems. A holon is a component of the hierarchy such that it is at the same time (a) a whole made out of smaller parts which are lower on the hierarchy, and (b) part of some greater whole. The holon must enforce its own identity and keep together its own parts, while simultaneously supporting its higher level on which it depends for control. This dual nature means that there will be conflicting values, which need to be considered from a holistic perspective, in conjunction with the value conflicts of other holons.

Near-decomposability and the arbitrariness of any description. We can select a certain window of observation to isolate and describe, in simplified terms, a part of a system as an independent entity. This window is determined by the values of any one perspective or discipline. In describing sustainable development, we need to look at many levels, at the same time, from many perspectives. We need to select our windows carefully and ethically, recognizing their limitations.

Looking specifically to sustainable development, Giampietro contends that most analysis of human history has mediated between the 'individual' and 'societal perspectives', and has ignored the conflicting values that emerge from mediating between the 'ecological' and 'human' perspectives. Prior to the industrial revolution, this recognition was unnecessary, because "ecological processes were effectively the 'higher level' in the hierarchy for humans, and as such imposed a set of unavoidable constraints" (p.620). Since industrialization, however, humans have "managed to avoid--at least temporarily--some of the filters imposed by their belonging to that hierarchy." However, humans as holons have out paced the growth of biological communities. Thus, neither the perturbations generated by the lower level (humans), nor the dynamics of the upper level (ecological constraints) can be considered negligible. "Humans and their economic systems have expanded so much as holons, that they are endangering the stability of the higher level (ecological system) of the hierarchy to which they belong" (p.621). The tools that have been used in describing the interactions between humans and the rest of the biosphere, based on unlimited growth in an empty world, are no longer able to provide reliable information about the behavior of the system as a whole (p.620). The neo-classical economic paradigm is no longer sufficient.

Giampietro holds that we are 'fully responsible' for the direction and the shape that our expansion takes. We need an enlarged cultural perspective to provide us with reasons to slow growth. The hierarchical perspective enables us to see that across time and space, our obligations to future generations are the same as those that we have toward other humans and species in the present. This is a useful framework to understand processes in which it appears that the costs may be paid be one compartment (persons in a specific time and place), and the benefits are more diffused to the whole hierarchy (p.623).

Giampietro concludes that since "population growth and technology have dramatically increased the level of connectedness of the hierarchy," we must increase the scale of integration of perspectives (p.624). He calls for a new area of 'scientific activity' aimed at connecting the scientific world with the rest of society in this decision making process, where the people are enabled "to choose democratically among debated, understood, yet still risky paths of technological development" (p.625).

Keywords: hierarchy theory, value conflicts, participatory decision-making