Raymond Trevor Bradley

Organizing for peace operations

There have been two general approaches to organizing for peace operations: an ad hoc approach, in which entities independently intervene and operate on the basis of their unique expertise and interest; and a top – down approach, in which all entities are directed and controlled by a single authority. Using the UN experience in Afghanistan, we demonstrate how this view of the organizing problem is limited. Instead, we develop a typology that distinguishes among three systems for organizing peace operations-Command, Market and Community – on the basis of their differences on four analytic dimensions (agency, social attachment, social control and inter-organizational relations). Our analysis of the UN experience in Afghanistan demonstrates the utility of our framework for both theory and practice.

Network structure from relational data: Measurement and inference in four operational models ☆

Abstract An empirically-based assessment of the operational procedures routinely used in network analysis reveals serious measurement deficiencies that render spurious images of network structure. Based on explicit, exhaustive measurement along three basic relational dimensions, an alternative approach is described that resolves these problems. The three dimensions (type of relation, the relations existential status, and level of analysis) combine to create a general framework for classifying and assessing a range of relational operational procedures in terms of measurement capability and inference potential.

The anticipation of order in biosocial collectives

Written to honor David Loyes work on precognition and prediction, this essay presents a scientific account of the information processing mechanisms by which a social collective anticipates future order. Loyes concept of the hololeap (Loye, 1983), a metaphorical leap of information, is found to have a number of similarities to Gabors (1946) concept of information, the logon, used in the physics of signal processing. An energy‐based elementary unit of information, Gabors concept is combined with the concept of least action to develop a theory of information processing in social collectives. The theory shows how two orders of social relations, flux and control, act on the energy of the collectives members to create quantum‐like, elementary units of information. Each unit of information enfolds a description of the collectives endogenous organization. The interpenetration between the two orders operates as a communication system that in‐forms (gives shape to) the moment‐by‐moment expenditure of energy a...

Relational dynamics of charismatic organization: The complementarity of love and power

Abstract: This paper outlines a new theory of structural transformation in charismatic systems by postulating a complementary relationship between love and power. Radical reorganization of social organization, the function of charismatic systems, requires mobilizing and realigning enormous amounts of social energy. The source of this social energy is love. When patterned as communion, love fuses the group into an undifferentiated whole and releases the social energy previously locked up as institutionalized structure. Released from structure or form, however, social energy is highly volatile and produces immense pressures towards instability. Counterbalancing the pressure from communion, a strong, collective order of power functions to harness and align the energy, thereby promoting group stability and enhancing the prospects for structural transformation. Data from a national study of sixty urban communal organizations are used to ground key aspects of the theory.

Agency and the theory of quantum vacuum interaction 1

Laszlos theory of quantum vacuum interaction describes the evolution of all order in the universe as a result of the interaction between the holofield, a subquantum field of potential energy, and the multi‐level hierarchy of matter and living systems. A review of the scheme reveals two problems which question its application to psycho‐social interaction. One is the use of classical holography (image processing), which is inherently deterministic. The second is Laszlos view of the brain as a passive processor of information. Both preclude human agency in the generation of psycho‐social organization. An alternative approach is developed here that aims to solve both of these problems. First, I draw on Piagets work to show how thought and reason, and thus agency, is produced by the logic of cooperative interaction. And second, I use both classical holography and quantum holography (information processing) to develop a nondeterminist account of communication in social collectives. The principles of classical holography are used to describe how purposeful action is imaged and processed; and the principles of quantum holography are used to describe how a stable order of endogenous organization is generated by the processing of information about the interactions among members. By describing how the collectives normative order (the system of shared values, beliefs, and norms) operates to effect the construction and regulation of the collectives communicative structure, I show how indeterminacy is introduced and, hence, the potential for an active human agent in social life.