Common societal language

Common Societal Language

Conceptual Framework

Common Societal Language Denis Pageau © 2011 2013

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A common societal languageWhether you are a citizen interested in solving our societal problems, or youare a citizen who also happens to be a politician, an economist, a sociologistor a policy maker, we all need to use the same language; the same definitions.It is important to help create a meaningful and constructive dialogue.

The following slides gives a brief overview of the language used in thisinterdisciplinary and international community of practice for citizens:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=3924474

The definitions presented creates a context that:

Encircles the domain of discussionEncourage context-specific interventionsAllows to identify solutions compatible with the context.

For more information www.citizensandsocieties.org


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Society:What is a societyTypes of societySocietal layers

CitizensWhat is a citizenTypes of citizenCitizen, collectivity and groups

Societal resourcesTypes of Societal resources

InterconnectionsInterrelationsInteractions

Barriers to interconnectionsFreedomLiberty

Content


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Society emanates from the individual, group and the collective management processes used in acollectivity. We have acquired these management processes throughout our 7 million-yearsevolution as we learned to live socially. These affect how citizens interrelate and interact withthemselves, within groups or within their collectivities as well as how they organize. Societyincorporates three layers of management processes. The first two are social while the last isimpersonal. If the last one is not present, it is not a society but a community.

Social1. Interrelational: We have developed these processes to facilitate how we relate with each

other. These have been implemented during the period when we lived in small communities,and we did not use tools. (7-4 ma)

2. Interactional: We have developed these processes to facilitate how we act with each otherwhen we either use the other or an object as a tool. These add themselves to theinterrelational process and were implemented when we lived in a community. (From 4 ma tothe present.)

Impersonal1. Organizational: We have implemented this process when the population reached a

threshold(1) where a single leader was not enough anymore to maintain the cohesiveness ofthe group. The leader was forced to rely on others to maintain the group cohesiveness. Atone point, it created two levels of separation between the person asking for a decision andthe person making the decision, thus making the decision impersonal. (From 10 000 yearsago to the present.)

(1) For more information, see Dunbar Social brain hypothesis: http://tinyurl.com/7ktnjt2

What is a society?


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The management processes present in the different societal layers vary depending on the composition of the group leaders and abstract resources present at that time. They can therefore facilitate the development citizens or not, facilitate the functioning of the collectivityor not.

1. Discordant society: where management processes do not facilitate the development of the citizens nor the functioning of the collectivity they live in. This creates friction both citizens and collective.

2. Individualist society: where management processes facilitate the development of citizens, but hinder the functioning of the collectivity they live in. This creates collective frictions towards citizens who are consciously or unconsciously, intentionally or not, the beneficiaries of these processes.

3. Centralist society: where management processes facilitate the functioning of the collectivity where citizens live in, but to a degree that they hinder the development of the citizens. This creates citizen frictions towards the collectivity.

4. Balance society: where management processes that facilitate both the development of the citizens and the functioning of the collectivities they live in. Conflicts are then peripheral. This means that there are some conflicts, both towards citizens and towards the collectivity, but these are caused by the fact that society has reached an equilibrium. Going one way or the other would upset this balance.

Four Types of Societies


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Unless citizens are isolated on an island and there is only one city, citizens are affected by several societal layers. Each layer can have an impact on the development of our fellow citizens and the functioning of our collectivities. The scope of this impact varies from country to country and is associated with the strength of the individual, group and collective management processes found at every level. They can vary from one place to another and is usually entrenched in the constitution.

Local: The village or the city is the collectivity where we have the most interrelations and interactions. The individual, group and collective management processes found at this level, are usually those that most affect our life. This is the first layer.

2. Regional: A layer that regroups several villages or cities.3. State or Province: A major layer that impact local and regional collectivities.4. Country: A country is viewed as an independent entity. Every individual, group and

collective management processes found in this country are subjected to its laws. 5. International: When our country signs international agreement, it has an impact on some

of our individual, group and collective management processes. 6. Global: We are all part of our global village, and some of our actions affect the

development of our fellow citizens far away and the functioning of their collectivities. (Pollution, exploitation, etc.)

Societal Layers


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What is a citizen?Citizen: a citizen is someone who has an impact, positively or not, voluntary or not, consciously or not, on theresources of the society, by the use or non use he or she makes of them, so she or he may develop:

1. Communicatively2. culturally,3. emotionally,4. financially,5. intellectually,6. ludically,7. mentally,8. morally,9. organizationally10. physically,11. psychologically and12. socially…

…all with the goal, admitted or not, of integrating in the many collectivities, he or she, voluntary or not, consciously ornot, which he participates in.1. Citizen participates, consciously or not, willingly or not, collectively or not, in the management of the various

collectivities in which they live in, through the positive or negative uses they make of the societal resources of thesevarious collectivities as well, as through the ways they interrelates with their family, their friends and fellow citizens.

2. In some collectivities, when they are old enough to vote, citizens participate in the management of theircollectivities. They then delegate formally and directly some part of its decision-making power.

Common Societal LanguageDenis Pageau © 2011 2013

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Influencers : They receive the privileged from their fellow citizens to be listened to. There are two types of influencers: Direct and Indirect.

1. Direct : They are heard by their fellow citizens. They are intellectuals, teachers, actors, journalists, singers, politicians, humorists, priests, etc. They Influence the citizens directly.

2. Decisional: They are heard by the chiefs and other decisions makers. They can be prominent citizens or acquaintance of the chiefs and decision makers.

Chief : If in addition to being heard, this influencer is listened to, he is a chief. There are two types:

Societal Chief : He or she gets permission, by force, by ruse, by leg or by vote, from it’s citizens to manage a society. (Prime minister, mayor, King, Queens, dictators, etc.)

Administrative Chief : One who receives permission from the political chief or its delegates to manage an organization. (Entrepreneurs, directors of public institutions, Unions, NGOs and NPOs.)

Decision makers : A citizen who receives permission from a chief, be it societal or administrative, or a superior to make decisions to accomplish a certain mandate.

Managers : A citizen who receives permission from a decision maker to ensure that certain tasks are completed.

Types of citizens


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Employees/students/volunteers: Those who are under managers and performing actions.

Ostracized: Those to whom we remove privileges for no reason: slaves, women, homosexuals, immigrants, first nations, etc.

Expatriated: Not only as he been ostracized but he as been banish from the collectivity he lived in.

Removed: Those who withdraw voluntarily or involuntarily from the normal functioning of society. Ex: the homeless, welfare recipient.

Temporary: Someone living temporarily in the collectivity to work or to visit.

Types of citizens(more)


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Citizen : A citizen is a single entity in the collectivity.

Collectivity: A collectivity is the sum of all the citizens living within the territory.

Groups: If a citizen is a single entity and a collectivity includes all citizens, then a group can be anycombination in between. They can be formal or informal, internal or external:

2. Formal : Citizens in this type of group ask the privilege to become legal persons. This createssome sort of separation between the citizens participating in the group, and the actionsperformed in the name of the group.

3. Informal : Citizens in this type of group do not ask to become legal persons, either because themembers know they will not be permitted to be a legal entity, or they do not see the advantage orthe necessity to become a formalized group.

4. Internal : Actions from the citizens in this group are intended to meet the needs of the citizens ofthe group. (Community of practice, a book club, etc.)

5. External : Groups with an external scope are groups whose actions are intended to meet theneeds of citizens outside the group. (Business, government, non-governmental organizations,etc.)

Citizen, collectivity and groups


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The term system is often used, and it means different things for differentpeople. Here a system, be it economic, politic, cultural, educational, etc., is aset, or sets, of learned, repeated and shared behaviors creating a collectivebehavioral choreography brought forward by the gangliaization process.

Gangliazation is a neurological process where behaviours switch from beingmade in the prefrontal cortex of our brain to the ganglias. When thegangliazation process is complete, our behaviours becomes automatic. Ittakes a lot of effort to change this automatic behaviour.

As the same automatic behaviour, or behaviours, is shared by more and morepeople, we start to see a choreography. It is this choreography that weidentify as a system.

Because a system is a set, or sets, of learned, repeated and sharedbehaviors, we can change the system by identifying the behaviours at theheart of the system and promote the use of other behaviours..

Societal System


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Societal resources: Resources that a citizen, a group citizens or thecollectivity can use to accomplish his or her objectives. Natural, human,abstract and transformed resources, are the four types of societal resources.

Societal resources


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1. Natural Resources: the earth and its resources; air and water, the sun, etc.

2. Human Resources:

1. Citizen(s): a human being using the societal resources of a collectivity.

2. Group(s) : Citizens coming together formally or not, using the resources of acollectivity.

1. Collectivity: All citizens living in the collectivity using its societal resources.

3. Abstract Resources: all the knowledge, true or not, laws, language, concept, cultures, etc.

4. Transformed Natural Resources: the infrastructure and the objects that come from the use and the transformation of the natural resources. (Houses, farms, roads, food, transport vehicles of all kinds, etc.)

Types of societal resources

Common Societal LanguageDenis Pageau © 2011 2013

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Interrelations: relationships, one to one, one to many, many to many, thatcitizens have with each other through friendly or familial relations.

Interactions: operational relationships, one to one, one to many, many tomany, that citizens have with each other and the other societal resources,where the actions emanating from these relations aims to achieve anoperational objective. Citizens are then used as a resource.

Interrelations and Interactions


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There can be barriers that facilitate or impede our interrelations and interactions. These barriers are either collective or individual management processes. Here is a definition of these practices.

Freedom is a domain where one can be free. The size of the domain varies from one species to another and depends on the solitary or social nature of the species. Since humans are social animals, freedom is created by the collective management processes that create the conditions where citizens can be free to develop themselves as they see fit.

Liberty is the actual space that we can claim to be ours. This space is dynamic since the space increases or decreases depending on the presence or absence of our fellow citizens. Liberty is "the result" of the mutual self-restraining management processes used by citizens, individually and in groups, that allow our fellow citizen to be free

Barriers to interconnections


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Common societal language