6Complexity, Self-Organization, and Emergence

Peggy Holman

In 1984, Ilya Prigogine, winner of the 1977 Nobel Prize for chemistry, and philosopher Isabelle Stengers published the best-selling book Order Out of Chaos. Three years later, journalist James Gleick released another best seller, Chaos: Making a New Science. It is no coincidence that two books on a new scientific idea made an impression on the public consciousness. They were pointing to something that struck a chord, mirroring lived experiences of changing times.

Dialogic OD practices were in their infancy during that period. Eva Schindler-Rainman and Ron Lippitt worked with communities in the 1960s to find common cause among diverse people with vested interests, blazing a trail for collaboration ...

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