Boundary critique (BC) is the concept in
critical systems thinking that, according to Ulrich (2002), states that "both the meaning and the
validity of professional
proposition
A proposition is a statement that can be either true or false. It is a central concept in the philosophy of language, semantics, logic, and related fields. Propositions are the object s denoted by declarative sentences; for example, "The sky ...
s always depend on boundary judgments as to what 'facts' (
observation
Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the percep ...
) and 'norms' (valuation standards) are to be considered relevant" or not.
Boundary critique is a general
systems thinking
Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.Anderson, Virginia, & Johnson, Lauren (1997). ''Systems Thinking Ba ...
principle similar to concepts as
multiple perspectives, and interconnectedness. Boundary critique according to Cabrera (2006) is "in a way identical to distinction making as both processes cause one to demarcate between what is in and what is out of a particular construct. Boundary critique may also allude to how one must be explicit (e.g., critical) of these boundary decisions. Distinction making, on the other hand, is autonomic—one constantly makes distinctions all of the time."
Boundary critique is based on Churchman's (1970) argument, "that what is to be included or excluded for any analysis of a situation is a vital consideration".
[Carolyn Kagan, Sue Caton, Amisha Amin and Amna Choudry (2005)]
"Boundary critique' community psychology and citizen participation"
Paper delivered to European Community Psychology Conference, Berlin, September 2004. According to Kagan et al. (2004) "Something that appears to be relevant to overall project improvement given a narrowly defined boundary, may not be seen as relevant at all if the boundaries are pushed out. Thus, he argues, as much information as possible should be 'swept in' to the definition of the intervention".
This argumentation was extended by
Werner Ulrich in the 1980s. According to Kagan et al. (2004) he "offered a detailed challenge to the idea that the boundaries of any system are given and linked to "social reality". They are social or
personal construct
Within personality psychology, personal construct theory (PCT) or personal construct psychology (PCP) is a theory of personality and cognition developed by the American psychologist George Kelly in the 1950s.For example: (first published 1955); ...
s that define the limits of knowledge relevant to any particular analysis. From this position, pushing out the boundaries of an analysis, in the context of human systems, also involves pushing the boundaries of who may be considered a decision maker".
In the practice of boundary critique, according to Ulrich (2000)
[ Werner Ulrich(2000). "Reflective Practice in the Civil Society: The contribution of critically systemic thinking". in: ''Reflective Practice'', 1, (2) 247-268] different kind of boundaries can be set based on different questions:
* ''Self-reflective boundary'' relating to the question "What are my boundary judgements?".
* ''Dialogical boundary'' relating to the question "Can we agree on our boundary judgements?".
* ''Controversial boundary'' relating to the question "Don't you claim too much?".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boundary Critique
Systems theory