IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/srbeha/v42y2025i1p23-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Accommodation and critique: A necessary tension

Author

Listed:
  • Alistair J. Smith
  • Gerald Midgley

Abstract

A dilemma in critical systems thinking is how to balance a desire for critique to inspire far‐reaching transformations in society with the requirement for people to reach accommodations to enable on‐the‐ground change. Both critique and accommodation are necessary to realise transformations, yet they are often in tension. If critique is undertaken by lone researchers and prioritised over accommodation, then the lack of stakeholder buy‐in can lead to a failure of implementation. Conversely, if accommodation is prioritised over critique, then implementation is more likely, but it may be less than transformative due to the need to keep more conservative stakeholders engaged. A strategy to address this problem is offered by Gillian Rose. This paper discusses how her strategy can inform critical systems thinking. It then ends with more general reflections on the value of the work of Gillian Rose for systemic intervention.

Suggested Citation

  • Alistair J. Smith & Gerald Midgley, 2025. "Accommodation and critique: A necessary tension," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 23-50, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:42:y:2025:i:1:p:23-50
    DOI: 10.1002/sres.3096
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.3096
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sres.3096?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:42:y:2025:i:1:p:23-50. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/1092-7026 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.