HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A heterarchy is a system of organization where the elements of the organization are unranked (non-
hierarchical A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
) or where they possess the potential to be ranked a number of different ways. Definitions of the term vary among the disciplines: in social and information sciences, heterarchies are
networks Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...
of elements in which each element shares the same "horizontal" position of power and authority, each playing a theoretically equal role. In biological taxonomy, however, the requisite features of heterarchy involve, for example, a species sharing, with a species in a different
family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...
, a common ancestor which it does not share with members of its own family. This is theoretically possible under principles of "
horizontal gene transfer Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the movement of genetic material between unicellular and/or multicellular organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offspring (reproduction). HG ...
". A heterarchy may be parallel to a
hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
, subsumed to a hierarchy, or it may contain hierarchies; the two kinds of structure are not mutually exclusive. In fact, each level in a hierarchical system is composed of a potentially heterarchical group which contains its constituent elements. The concept of heterarchy was first employed in a modern context by cybernetician
Warren McCulloch Warren Sturgis McCulloch (November 16, 1898 – September 24, 1969) was an American neurophysiologist and cybernetician, known for his work on the foundation for certain brain theories and his contribution to the cybernetics movement.Ken Aizawa ( ...
in 1945. As Carole L. Crumley has summarised, " examined alternative
cognitive Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought ...
structure(s), the collective organization of which he termed heterarchy. He demonstrated that the human brain, while reasonably orderly was not organized hierarchically. This understanding revolutionized the neural study of the brain and solved major problems in the fields of
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
and computer design."


General principles, operationalization, and evidence

In a group of related items, heterarchy is a state wherein any pair of items is likely to be related in two or more differing ways. Whereas hierarchies sort groups into progressively smaller categories and subcategories, heterarchies divide and unite groups variously, according to multiple concerns that emerge or recede from view according to perspective. Crucially, no one way of dividing a heterarchical system can ever be a totalizing or all-encompassing view of the system, each division is clearly partial, and in many cases, a partial division leads us, as perceivers, to a feeling of contradiction that invites a new way of dividing things. (But of course the next view is just as partial and temporary.) Heterarchy is a name for this state of affairs, and a description of a heterarchy usually requires ambivalent thought... a willingness to ambulate freely between unrelated perspectives. However, because the requirements for a heterarchical system are not exactly stated, identifying a heterarchy through the use of archaeological materials can often prove to be difficult. In an attempt to operationalize heterarchies, Schoenherr and Dopko use the concept of reward systems and Relational models theory. Relational models are defined by distinct expectations for exchanges between individuals in terms of authority ranking, equality matching, communality, and market pricing. They suggest that discrepancies in the kind of reward that is used to assign merit and differences in merit assigned to specific groups of individuals can be used as evidence for heterarchical structure. Their study demonstrates differences in the number of women assigned PhDs, the number of women receiving academic appointments in high status academic institutions, and scientific awards. Examples of heterarchical conceptualizations include the
Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze ( , ; 18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two vo ...
/
Félix Guattari Pierre-Félix Guattari ( , ; 30 April 1930 – 29 August 1992) was a French psychoanalyst, political philosopher, semiotician, social activist, and screenwriter. He co-founded schizoanalysis with Gilles Deleuze, and ecosophy with Arne Næss, ...
conceptions of
deterritorialization In critical theory, deterritorialization is the process by which a social relation, called a ''territory'', has its current organization and context altered, mutated or destroyed. The components then constitute a new territory, which is the proces ...
,
rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow h ...
, and
body without organs The body without organs (or BwO; French: or ) is a philosophical concept used in the work of French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. The term was first used by French writer Antonin Artaud in his 1947 play ''To Have Done With the ...
.


Information studies

Numerous observers in the information sciences have argued that heterarchical structure processes more information more effectively than hierarchical design. An example of the potential effectiveness of heterarchy would be the rapid growth of the heterarchical
Wikipedia Wikipedia is a Multilingualism, multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of online volunteering, volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia ...
project in comparison with the failed growth of the
Nupedia Nupedia was an English-language, online encyclopedia whose articles were written by volunteer contributors with appropriate subject matter expertise, reviewed by expert editors before publication, and licensed as free content. It was founded by ...
project. Heterarchy increasingly trumps hierarchy as complexity and rate of change increase. Informational heterarchy can be defined as an organizational form somewhere between hierarchy and network that provides horizontal links that permit different elements of an organization to cooperate whilst individually optimizing different success criteria. In an organizational context the value of heterarchy derives from the way in which it permits the legitimate valuation of multiple skills, types of knowledge or working styles without privileging one over the other. In information science, therefore, heterarchy,
responsible autonomy Responsible Autonomy ( it, Autonomia Responsabile, AR) is a centrist to centre-right political party active in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The party was launched as a "civic list" in support of Renzo Tondo, incumbent President of The People of ...
and
hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
are sometimes combined under the umbrella term Triarchy. This concept has also been applied to the field of
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...
, where it has enabled researchers to better understand social complexity. For further reading see the works of Carole Crumley. The term heterarchy is used in conjunction with the concepts of
holon Holon ( he, חוֹלוֹן ) is a city on the central coastal strip of Israel, south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan Gush Dan area. In it had a population of . Holon has the second-largest industrial zone in Israel, after Haifa. ...
s and holarchy to describe individual
system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and expresse ...
s at each level of a holarchy.


Brain science

A heterarchical network could be used to describe
neuron A neuron, neurone, or nerve cell is an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. The neuron is the main component of nervous tissue in all animals except sponges and placozo ...
connections or democracy, although there are clearly hierarchical elements in both.


Sociology and political theory

Anthropologist
Dmitri Bondarenko Dmitri Mikhailovich Bondarenko ( rus, Дми́трий Миха́йлович Бондаре́нко, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ bəndɐˈrʲenkə, a=Ru-Dmitrii Mikhailovich Bondarenko.ogg; born June 9, 1968) is a Russian anthropologi ...
follows Carole Crumley in her definition of heterarchy as "the relation of elements to one another when they are unranked or when they possess the potential for being ranked in a number of different ways" and argues that it is therefore not strictly the opposite of hierarchy, but is rather the opposite of
homoarchy {{more citations needed, date=March 2015 Homoarchy is "the relation of elements to one another when they are rigidly ranked one way only, and thus possess no (or not more than very limited) potential for being unranked or ranked in another or a numb ...
, which is itself defined as "the relation of elements to one another when they possess the potential for being ranked in one way only". David C. Stark has been contributing to developing the concept of heterarchy in the sociology of organizations. Political
hierarchies A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
and heterarchies are systems in which multiple dynamic power structures govern the actions of the system. They represent different types of
network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...
structures that allow differing degrees of connectivity. In a ( tree-structured)
hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
every
node In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics * Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph * Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, line ...
is connected to at most one parent node and zero or more
child node In computer science, a tree is a widely used abstract data type that represents a hierarchical tree structure with a set of connected nodes. Each node in the tree can be connected to many children (depending on the type of tree), but must be co ...
s. In a heterarchy, however, a node can be connected to any of its surrounding nodes without needing to go through or get permission from some other node. Socially, a heterarchy distributes privilege and decision-making among participants, while a hierarchy assigns more power and privilege to the members high in the structure. In a systemic perspective, Gilbert Probst, Jean-Yves Mercier and others describe heterarchy as the flexibility of the formal relationships inside an organization. Domination and subordination links can be reversed and privileges can be redistributed in each situation, following the needs of the system. Higher education has also been framed as a heterarchical structure. Examining sex-based discrimination in psychology, Schoenherr and Dopko identify discrepancies between the number of women awarded PhDs, the number of professorships held by women, and the number of scientific awards granted to women in the behavioral sciences and by the American Psychological Association. They argued that this evidence supports difference reward systems, representing heterarchies. They go on to connect the notion of heterarchy to contemporary models relational structures in psychology (i.e., relational models theory). Schoenherr has argued that this is also reflected in divisions with professional psychology, such as those between clinical psychologists and experimental psychologists. Using the history of professional psychology in Canada and the United States, he provides quotations from professional organization to illustrate the disparate identities and reward systems. Rather than reflecting a feature of psychological science, these case studies were presented as evidence of heterarchies in academia and social organizations more generally.


See also

*
Adhocracy Adhocracy is a flexible, adaptable and informal form of organization that is defined by a lack of formal structure that employs specialized multidisciplinary teams grouped by functions. It operates in an opposite fashion to a bureaucracy. The te ...
*
Directed set In mathematics, a directed set (or a directed preorder or a filtered set) is a nonempty set A together with a reflexive and transitive binary relation \,\leq\, (that is, a preorder), with the additional property that every pair of elements has ...
* Distributed republic *
Hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
*
Homoarchy {{more citations needed, date=March 2015 Homoarchy is "the relation of elements to one another when they are rigidly ranked one way only, and thus possess no (or not more than very limited) potential for being unranked or ranked in another or a numb ...
*
Folksonomy Folksonomy is a classification system in which end users apply public tags to online items, typically to make those items easier for themselves or others to find later. Over time, this can give rise to a classification system based on those tag ...
* '' Gödel Escher Bach'' – discussed in chapter five * Panarchy


Notes


Further reading

*Bruns, Axel (2008). ''Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage'', New York: Peter Lang. * * * * * * * * Stark, David (2011). ''The Sense of Dissonance: Accounts of Worth in Economic Life'', Princeton University Press * O’Reilly, D.J.W. (2003). Further evidence of heterarchy in Bronze Age Thailand. Current Anthropology 44:300–306.


External links



{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122014927/http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail1080.html , date=2008-11-22
Heierarchy, Heterarchy, and other Structural Diagrams
Networks Hierarchy Patterns Structure Social systems concepts Cybernetics