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Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society
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Communitas, Ritual, and Sustainability in Peter Senge’s Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future

Shawn T. Collins

UTC Power, shawn.collins{at}alumni.purdue.edu

Presence suggests that adapting the experiences of leading innovators may address a nightmare scenario of environmental destruction, a growing divide between the rich and poor, and escalating violence around the world. Innovation occurs by transforming sensing to identify limitations in existing solution sets, transforming perception to envision an entire whole, and transforming action to realize the future seeking to emerge from the whole. This U sequence follows the rite-of-passage phases of separation, liminality, and reincorporation documented by Victor Turner. By ending in spontaneous communitas and avoiding a normative model, the U does not discuss how to mobilize resources and develop systems of social control. This omission, as well as depending on the constructive power of human ritual without recognition of its destructive potential, significantly limits the U’s analytic validity. Despite these limitations, Presence is an encouraging set of stories of attempts within the industrial context to mitigate the nightmare scenario and work toward a sustainable future.

Key Words: Peter Senge • product development • sustainability • ritual • communitas

Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, Vol. 25, No. 6, 491-496 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0270467605282748
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