Dear All, Of the 10,000 words/concepts I shared with the IBM film makers covering Sweet Water and Milwaukee...
http://growninthecity.com/2011/08/scaling-up-solutions-aquaponics-in-milwaukee/ "organic city" was the one they led with. The notion of transitioning from the industrial and then information society city and now to the organic city seems a concept/vision worth considering. I have a very brilliant friend who was aghast at the concept so I have challenged him to a test which I very much would appreciate your informing. Would you consider send out to some of your most verbal friends the concept organic city as something we might consider focusing on as the broader vision informing the local food movement? Here is some of my preliminary research, which, by the way, was inspired by Antonia Gramsci's notion of "organic intellectual," i.e. grass roots self-educating, regular working people. It was Organic Intellectuals that I had in mind when I accepted Josh Fraundorf and Steve Lindern's expanding my original suggestion of "Sweet Water" into Sweet Water Organics. Language therapy is complex stuff and requires time for serious application. Perhaps you've read your Tonnies and remember the distinction b/t * Gemeinschaft* — often translated as *community<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community> * (or left untranslated)— refers to groupings based on feelings of togetherness and on mutual bonds, which are felt as a goal to be kept up, their members being means for this goal. *Gesellschaft* — often translated as *society <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society>* — on the other hand, refers to groups that are sustained by it being instrumental for their members' individual aims and goals. And you surely remember the objectification of factory worker or enemies of the industrial society, e.g. peasants by the rulers of the industrial society we are both the beneficiaries of and the victims of its externalities, e.g. environmental degradation. The concept organic city opens up a vast field for consideration. Key related concepts it evokes are: *groupings based on feelings of togetherness and on mutual bonds, which are felt as a goal to be kept up, their members being means for this goal. * self-configuration, self-optimization, self-healing, and/or self-protection * flexible and has a flat structure * Organic (model) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_%28model%29>, forms, methods and patterns found in living systems, often used as a metaphor for non-living things *growing together All of this fits in with the theory of organizational develop I will call co-creation rather than the word you hate that combined chaos theory with structure theory. Notes from Wikipedia: Of or relating to an organism <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organism>, a living entity The term "organism" (Greek <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language>ὀργανισμός – *organismos*, from Ancient Greek<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek>ὄργανον – *organon* "organ, instrument, tool") first appeared in the English language in 1701 and took on its current definition by 1834 (Oxford English Dictionary <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary>). It is directly related to the term "organization". There is a long tradition of defining organisms as self-organizing beings.[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organism#cite_note-0> Organic computing <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_computing>, computing systems with properties of self-configuration, self-optimization, self-healing, and/or self-protection Organic growth <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_growth>, business expansion through increasing output and sales as opposed to mergers, acquisitions and take-overs Organic organisation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_organisation>, one which is flexible and has a flat structure Organic (model) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_%28model%29>, forms, methods and patterns found in living systems, often used as a metaphor for non-living things Organicism <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organicism>, the biological doctrine which stresses the organization, rather than the composition, of organisms *Philosophy of Organism* or *Organic Realism* is how Alfred North Whitehead<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_North_Whitehead>described his metaphysics <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics>. It is now known as process philosophy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_philosophy>. Central to this school is the idea of concrescence<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Concrescence_%28philosophy%29&action=edit&redlink=1>. Concrescence means *growing together* (com/con from Latin for "together", crescence from Latin crescere/cret- *grow*. Marvin Minsky<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Minsky>calls this the "society of mind" in his book *Society of Mind <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Mind>* Thanks, Godsil - -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20110817/7bde6973/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. 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