Show pageOld revisionsBacklinksBack to top You've loaded an old revision of the document! If you save it, you will create a new version with this data. Media Files===== Discovering Alternatives ===== Discovering alternatives is a part of the [[causal layered analysis]] (CLA) method, which aims to explore alternative myths, worldviews, social structures and visible reality and show how things could be otherwise. This technique usually comes after exploring the layers 'vertically' to find the root causes of present issues through the process of [[uncovering causality]]. CLA was developed by [[http://www.metafuture.org/articles-by-sohail-inayatullah/|Sohail Inayatullah]]. ---- <html><a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/35/8c/4f/358c4fcbd62009d78ee0411c5657adf0.jpg"><img src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/35/8c/4f/358c4fcbd62009d78ee0411c5657adf0.jpg"></a></html> === Process === * Step 1. Frame this technique as a part of [[causal layered analysis]], where new possibilities and scenarios are uncovered in response to a current (undesirable) situation. * Step 2. Identify an issue, system, worldview and/or myth that is constraining or problematic in the present. Consider doing this by following the steps outlined in [[uncovering causality]]. * Step 3 can involve two alternative approaches: * Step 3a: __horizontal alternatives__. Take one layer at a time and ask: How could we look at this (issue, system, worldview, myth) differently? What other points of view or perspectives could we take? How could it be otherwise? What would have to change to make this happen? What would happen if these alternatives prevailed and became dominant? Identify what relevant alternatives there might be on different layers. * Step 3b: __diagonal scenarios__. Begin with the myth layer that you identified in step 2 and create an alternative story or image that reflects the wishes of the group. Build the new scenario from the myth layer upwards. Ask which worldviews this myth would give rise to. Which systems and social structures would be shaped by this worldview? For example, what would the news or current affairs look like in this world -- which issues, solutions and facts would be reported? * Step 4. Reality check: if the purpose of your scenario building is to identify what you can do in the present to begin changing an undesirable situation, go through each of the layers of your new scenario and look for: * Instrumental solutions and quick-fixes (Litany) * Policy-oriented strategies, different [[STEEP]] approaches (Systems and Causes) * Ways to change prevailing values, worldviews, mindsets and behaviours (Discourse/Worldview) * New or different metaphors, stories, images, myths that could provoke alternative emotional responses (Myth/Metaphor) ==== References ==== * [[http://scenariosforsustainability.org/recipes/cla.html|Scenarios for sustainability]] * [[http://proutglobal.info/slideshows/training/Related%20web%20pages/002-Casual_Layered_Analysis.pdf|Causal Layered Analysis: Poststructuralism as a method]] * [[http://metafuture.org/cla%20papers/Inayatullah%20%20Causal%20layered%20analysis%20-%20theory,%20historical%20context,%20and%20case%20studies.%20Intro%20chapter%20from%20The%20CLA%20Reader..pdf|CLA Reader]] Please fill all the letters into the box to prove you're human. Please keep this field empty: SavePreviewCancel Edit summary Note: By editing this page you agree to license your content under the following license: CC Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International futurist_fieldguide/discovering_alternatives.1432128923.txt.gz Last modified: 2015-05-20 13:35by alkan