Frances Westley
Biographic Data
| ID | 376815 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Frances Westley |
| GIVEN NAMES | Frances |
| FAMILY NAME | Westley |
| SIGNATURE | WESTLEY F |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Waterloo |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 43 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 464 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 43 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1977 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Anticipating the global redistribution of people and property
Our future in the Anthropocene biosphere
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed an interconnected and tightly coupled globalized world in rapid change. This article sets the scientific stage for understanding and responding to such change for global sustainability and resilient societies. We provide a systemic overview of the current situation where people and nature are dynamically intertwined and embedded in the biosphere, placing shocks and extreme events as part of this dynamic; humanity…
Navigating the chaos of an unfolding global cycle
Walker, B., S. R. Carpenter, C. Folke, L. Gunderson, G. D. Peterson, M. Scheffer, M. Schoon, and F. R. Westley. 2020. Navigating the chaos of an unfolding global cycle. Ecology and Society 25(4):23. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12072-250423
Dancing on the volcano
Carpenter, S. R., C. Folke, M. Scheffer, and F. R. Westley. 2019. Dancing on the volcano: social exploration in times of discontent. Ecology and Society 24(1):23. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10839-240123
Navigating emergence and system reflexivity as key transformative capacities
Moore, M.-L., P. Olsson, W. Nilsson, L. Rose, and F. R. Westley. 2018. Navigating emergence and system reflexivity as key transformative capacities: experiences from a Global Fellowship program. Ecology and Society 23(2):38. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10166-230238
Iconic images, symbols, and archetypes
The relationship between art and science is one of contrasts and commonalities. We look at one commonality between art and science: the central role of iconic images. We argue that iconic images are the touchstone symbols in both art and science and provide similar functions for both. We propose that these iconic images provoke an openness and a receptivity to our deepest emotional capacities and a connection between those and the dynamics of the…
Learning through evaluation – A tentative evaluative scheme for sustainability transition experiments
The concept of the Anthropocene as a game-changer
Olsson, P., M.-L. Moore, F. R. Westley, and D. D. P. McCarthy. 2017. The concept of the Anthropocene as a game-changer: a new context for social innovation and transformations to sustainability. Ecology and Society 22(2):31. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09310-220231
How game changers catalyzed, disrupted, and incentivized social innovation
Westley, F. R., K. A. McGowan, N. Antadze, J. Blacklock, and O. Tjornbo. 2016. How game changers catalyzed, disrupted, and incentivized social innovation: three historical cases of nature conservation, assimilation, and women’s rights. Ecology and Society 21(4):13.http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-08811-210413
At the Root of Change
At the Root of Change
This chapter explores the roots and developments of social innovation through comparative historical case studies. Specifically, this chapter introduces a theoretical and methodological framework for this historical discussion. It then goes on to discuss trends observed from a preliminary analysis of several historical cases of social innovation and offers a more detailed discussion of one specific case — the emergence of the intelligence test. T…
A message from magic to science
Österblom, H., M. Scheffer, F. R. Westley, M. Van Esso, J. Miller, and J. Bascompte. 2015. A message from magic to science: seeing how the brain can be tricked may strengthen our thinking. Ecology and Society 20(4):16. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-07943-200416
Dual thinking for scientists
Scheffer, M., J. Bascompte, T. K. Bjordam, S. R. Carpenter, L. B. Clarke, C. Folke, P. Marquet, N. Mazzeo, M. Meerhoff, O. Sala, and F. R. Westley. 2015. Dual thinking for scientists. Ecology and Society 20(2): 3. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-07434-200203
Five Configurations for Scaling Up Social Innovation
Why do so many social innovations fail to have a broad impact? Successful social entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations often “scale out” innovative solutions to local problems in order to affect more communities or numbers of individuals. When faced with institutional barriers, they are motivated to “scale up” their efforts to challenge the broader institutional rules that created the problem. In doing so, they must reorient their own and the…
The Oak Ridges Moraine as a Social Innovation
McCarthy, D. D. P., G. S. Whitelaw, F. R. Westley, D. D. Crandall, and D. Burnett. 2014. The Oak Ridges Moraine as a social innovation: strategic vision as a social-ecological interaction. Ecology and Society 19(1): 48. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06212-190148
A First Nations-led social innovation
McCarthy, D. D. P., M. Millen, M. Boyden, E. Alexiuk, G. S. Whitelaw, L. Viswanathan, D. Larkman, G. Rowe, and F. R. Westley. 2014. A First Nations-led social innovation: a moose, a gold mining company, and a policy window. Ecology and Society 19(4): 2. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06771-190402
The research journey
McGowan, K. A., F. Westley, E. D. G. Fraser, P. A. Loring, K. C. Weathers, F. Avelino, J. Sendzimir, R. Roy Chowdhury, and M.-L. Moore. 2014. The research journey: travels across the idiomatic and axiomatic toward a better understanding of complexity. Ecology and Society 19(3): 37. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06518-190337
A Theory of Transformative Agency in Linked Social-Ecological Systems
Westley, F. R., O. Tjornbo, L. Schultz, P. Olsson, C. Folke, B. Crona and Ö. Bodin. 2013. A theory of transformative agency in linked social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society 18(3): 27. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05072-180327
Reconnecting to the Biosphere
Tipping Toward Sustainability
Surmountable Chasms
Complex challenges demand complex solutions. By their very nature, these problems are difficult to define and are often the result of rigid social structures that effectively act as "traps". However, resilience theory and the adaptive cycle can serve as a useful framework for understanding how humans may move beyond these traps and towards the social innovation that is required to address many complex problems. This paper explores the critical qu…
Perspectives on Resilience to Disasters across Sectors and Cultures
We present some insights on the use and interpretation of resilience ideas that arose in a conference on "Society's Resilience in Withstanding Disaster." Three points in particular have relevance for those interested in resilience in social-ecological systems: (1) Time as a threshold vs. avoiding quick fixes; (2) Trading risks: specified vs. general resilience; (3) Response origination: building local general resilience, and general resilience in…
Voices From the Voluntary Sector
Navigating the Back Loop
Biggs, R., F. R. Westley, and S. R. Carpenter. 2010. Navigating the back loop: fostering social innovation and transformation in ecosystem management. Ecology and Society 15(2): 9. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-03411-150209
From Scientific Speculation to Effective Adaptive Management
Westley, F., M. Holmgren, and M. Scheffer. 2010. From scientific speculation to effective adaptive management: a case study of the role of social marketing in promoting novel restoration strategies for degraded dry lands. Ecology and Society 15(3): 6. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-03168-150306
A Theory of Transformative Agency in Linked Social-Ecological Systems
Westley, F. R., O. Tjornbo, L. Schultz, P. Olsson, C. Folke, B. Crona and Ö. Bodin. 2013. A theory of transformative agency in linked social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society 18(3): 27. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05072-180327
Our future in the Anthropocene biosphere
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed an interconnected and tightly coupled globalized world in rapid change. This article sets the scientific stage for understanding and responding to such change for global sustainability and resilient societies. We provide a systemic overview of the current situation where people and nature are dynamically intertwined and embedded in the biosphere, placing shocks and extreme events as part of this dynamic; humanity…
Tipping Toward Sustainability
Reconnecting to the Biosphere
Surmountable Chasms
Complex challenges demand complex solutions. By their very nature, these problems are difficult to define and are often the result of rigid social structures that effectively act as "traps". However, resilience theory and the adaptive cycle can serve as a useful framework for understanding how humans may move beyond these traps and towards the social innovation that is required to address many complex problems. This paper explores the critical qu…
The concept of the Anthropocene as a game-changer
Olsson, P., M.-L. Moore, F. R. Westley, and D. D. P. McCarthy. 2017. The concept of the Anthropocene as a game-changer: a new context for social innovation and transformations to sustainability. Ecology and Society 22(2):31. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09310-220231
Navigating the Back Loop
Biggs, R., F. R. Westley, and S. R. Carpenter. 2010. Navigating the back loop: fostering social innovation and transformation in ecosystem management. Ecology and Society 15(2): 9. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-03411-150209
Bob Geldof and Live Aid
This paper examines the case of Bob Geldof and Live Aid from the point of view of the relationship between visionary leadership and global social innovation. It briefly reviews the case. It then analyzes it in terms of four aspects of visionary leadership: the personal background of the visionary, the skills used in enacting the vision, the structural context in which the visionary operates, and the historical moment in which the visionary acts. …
The Cult of Man
Journal Article "The Cult of Man": Durkheim's Predictions and New Religious Movements Get access Frances Westley Frances Westley McGill University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Sociology of Religion, Volume 39, Issue 2, Summer 1978, Pages 135-145, https://doi.org/10.2307/3710213 Published: 01 July 1978
Perspectives on Resilience to Disasters across Sectors and Cultures
We present some insights on the use and interpretation of resilience ideas that arose in a conference on "Society's Resilience in Withstanding Disaster." Three points in particular have relevance for those interested in resilience in social-ecological systems: (1) Time as a threshold vs. avoiding quick fixes; (2) Trading risks: specified vs. general resilience; (3) Response origination: building local general resilience, and general resilience in…
Navigating the chaos of an unfolding global cycle
Walker, B., S. R. Carpenter, C. Folke, L. Gunderson, G. D. Peterson, M. Scheffer, M. Schoon, and F. R. Westley. 2020. Navigating the chaos of an unfolding global cycle. Ecology and Society 25(4):23. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12072-250423
Dual thinking for scientists
Scheffer, M., J. Bascompte, T. K. Bjordam, S. R. Carpenter, L. B. Clarke, C. Folke, P. Marquet, N. Mazzeo, M. Meerhoff, O. Sala, and F. R. Westley. 2015. Dual thinking for scientists. Ecology and Society 20(2): 3. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-07434-200203
Resilience
Plans to solve complex environmental problems should always consider the role of surprise. Nevertheless, there is a tendency to emphasize known computable aspects of a problem while neglecting aspects that are unknown and failing to ask questions about them. The tendency to ignore the noncomputable can be countered by considering a wide range of perspectives, encouraging transparency with regard to conflicting viewpoints, stimulating a diversity …
The Evolutionary Basis of Rigidity
Feedbacks leading to alternative stable modes of behavior occur on levels varying from the cell and the mind to societies. The tendency to lock into a certain pattern comes at the cost of the ability to adjust to new situations. The resulting rigidity limits the ability of persons, groups, and companies to respond to new problems, and some even suggest that it may have contributed to the collapse of ancient societies. In the face of these negativ…
The Eye of the Needle
This paper, based on ethnographic material gathered in interviews in a North American automobile manufacturing company, explores a particular, idiosyncratic culture in the process of change. It is argued that resistence to the planned change (a socio-technical re-design) demonstrated by organizational participants resulted in part from the clash between deeply held cultural assumptions and those implicit in the socio-technical re-design. Transfor…
How game changers catalyzed, disrupted, and incentivized social innovation
Westley, F. R., K. A. McGowan, N. Antadze, J. Blacklock, and O. Tjornbo. 2016. How game changers catalyzed, disrupted, and incentivized social innovation: three historical cases of nature conservation, assimilation, and women’s rights. Ecology and Society 21(4):13.http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-08811-210413
Dancing on the volcano
Carpenter, S. R., C. Folke, M. Scheffer, and F. R. Westley. 2019. Dancing on the volcano: social exploration in times of discontent. Ecology and Society 24(1):23. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10839-240123
Navigating emergence and system reflexivity as key transformative capacities
Moore, M.-L., P. Olsson, W. Nilsson, L. Rose, and F. R. Westley. 2018. Navigating emergence and system reflexivity as key transformative capacities: experiences from a Global Fellowship program. Ecology and Society 23(2):38. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10166-230238
The Economic Strategies of New Religious Movements
This article analyzes the economic strategies of new religious and para-religious movements by comparing them with the economic strategies of traditional religious associations. The article is based on research of several dozen such movements in the Montreal area. It is argued that the economic strategies of religious groups, old and new, closely reflect and influence the overall social policies of these groups, especially their attitudes towards…
A message from magic to science
Österblom, H., M. Scheffer, F. R. Westley, M. Van Esso, J. Miller, and J. Bascompte. 2015. A message from magic to science: seeing how the brain can be tricked may strengthen our thinking. Ecology and Society 20(4):16. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-07943-200416
The research journey
McGowan, K. A., F. Westley, E. D. G. Fraser, P. A. Loring, K. C. Weathers, F. Avelino, J. Sendzimir, R. Roy Chowdhury, and M.-L. Moore. 2014. The research journey: travels across the idiomatic and axiomatic toward a better understanding of complexity. Ecology and Society 19(3): 37. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06518-190337
From Scientific Speculation to Effective Adaptive Management
Westley, F., M. Holmgren, and M. Scheffer. 2010. From scientific speculation to effective adaptive management: a case study of the role of social marketing in promoting novel restoration strategies for degraded dry lands. Ecology and Society 15(3): 6. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-03168-150306
A Role for Natural Resource Social Science in Biodiversity Risk Assessment
Biologists have made considerable progress in developing realistic simulation models to predict extinction risks for threatened species. Social scientists have to date had a more limited role in these efforts. We argue that collaborations among social and biological scientists can provide unparalleled opportunities to develop new conceptual and simulation tools for biodiversity risk assessment. One challenge is that while the value of interdiscip…
Interpersonal contamination
Les mouvements etudies ici sont a identifier aux sectes qui se distinguent des mouvements neo-chretiens ou des religions orientales importees, et plus particulierement a celles qui ne se disent pas seulement therapeutiques mais religieuses (Psychosynthese, Scientologie, etc.). L'ambiguite de la litterature qui les concerne est presente dans leurs membres eux-memes. En meme temps ils ont besoin de communaute et ils en ont peur. L'analyse de leur l…
Searching for Surrender
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement is thefocus of thispaper, which offers an insightful analysis of one group's attempt to become glossolalic. Special attention is given to the crucial role of leadership and the reaction of external church authorities
The Cult of Man
Journal Article "The Cult of Man": Durkheim's Predictions and New Religious Movements Get access Frances Westley Frances Westley McGill University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Sociology of Religion, Volume 39, Issue 2, Summer 1978, Pages 135-145, https://doi.org/10.2307/3710213 Published: 01 July 1978
Getting Saved from the Sixties
Journal Article Getting Saved From the Sixties: Moral Meaning in Conversion and Cultural Change, by Steven M. Tipton. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982, 364 pp. $19.95 Get access Frances R. Westley Frances R. Westley University of Western Ontario Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Sociology of Religion, Volume 43, Issue 3, Fall 1982, Pages 271–273, https://doi.org/10.2307/3711261 Published: 01 Oc…
The Social Impact of New Religious Movements
Journal Article The Social Impact of New Religious Movements, ed. by Bryan Wilson. New York, Rose of Sharon Press, Inc., 1981, 234 pp. $10.95 Get access Frances R. Westley Frances R. Westley University of Western Ontario Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Sociology of Religion, Volume 43, Issue 2, Summer 1982, Pages 175–176, https://doi.org/10.2307/3710798 Published: 01 July 1982
Interpersonal contamination
Les mouvements etudies ici sont a identifier aux sectes qui se distinguent des mouvements neo-chretiens ou des religions orientales importees, et plus particulierement a celles qui ne se disent pas seulement therapeutiques mais religieuses (Psychosynthese, Scientologie, etc.). L'ambiguite de la litterature qui les concerne est presente dans leurs membres eux-memes. En meme temps ils ont besoin de communaute et ils en ont peur. L'analyse de leur l…
The Complex Forms of the Religious Life
In 1898 Durkheim predicted that religion in modern complex societies would express and hold sacred what human beings still had in common: their common humanity.This dissertation combines Durkheim's theory with data gathered in the Montreal area in order to analyse groups corresponding to his "cult of man."Included in this sample are •• transpersonal" groups such as est, Psychosynthesis and Arica, whose beliefs and organization are compared to the…
The Complex Forms of the Religious Life, A Durkheimian View of New Religious Movements
Journal Article The Complex Forms of the Religious Life, A Durkheimian View of New Religious Movements, by Frances Westley. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1983, ix + 199 pp. $13.50 Get access William H. Norman William H. Norman Graceland College Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Sociology of Religion, Volume 46, Issue 1, Spring 1985, Pages 90–92, https://doi.org/10.2307/3710910 Published: 01 March 1985
The Economic Strategies of New Religious Movements
This article analyzes the economic strategies of new religious and para-religious movements by comparing them with the economic strategies of traditional religious associations. The article is based on research of several dozen such movements in the Montreal area. It is argued that the economic strategies of religious groups, old and new, closely reflect and influence the overall social policies of these groups, especially their attitudes towards…
The Eye of the Needle
This paper, based on ethnographic material gathered in interviews in a North American automobile manufacturing company, explores a particular, idiosyncratic culture in the process of change. It is argued that resistence to the planned change (a socio-technical re-design) demonstrated by organizational participants resulted in part from the clash between deeply held cultural assumptions and those implicit in the socio-technical re-design. Transfor…
Bob Geldof and Live Aid
This paper examines the case of Bob Geldof and Live Aid from the point of view of the relationship between visionary leadership and global social innovation. It briefly reviews the case. It then analyzes it in terms of four aspects of visionary leadership: the personal background of the visionary, the skills used in enacting the vision, the structural context in which the visionary operates, and the historical moment in which the visionary acts. …
Prison or ark? the drama of managing the modern zoo
This paper examines the role of the theatre metaphor in both resolving and aggravating the tensions inherent in managing the modern zoo. As the mission of zoos has evolved from the point of view of management, from a “stamp collection” approach, through habitat design and education, to the breeding and preservation of endangered species, perceptions of the general public and more importantly, the municipal departments to which zoo directors repor…
"Not on Our Watch"
For those people who work with endangered species, the current rate of extinctions is experienced as a chronic disaster However, many dedicated professionals continue to work with commitment, despite discouraging trends, to try to stem the tide. This article uses qualitative data gathered from interviews with an international group of biologists, zoologists, and wildlife managers associated with an effective global social change network, the Cons…
A Role for Natural Resource Social Science in Biodiversity Risk Assessment
Biologists have made considerable progress in developing realistic simulation models to predict extinction risks for threatened species. Social scientists have to date had a more limited role in these efforts. We argue that collaborations among social and biological scientists can provide unparalleled opportunities to develop new conceptual and simulation tools for biodiversity risk assessment. One challenge is that while the value of interdiscip…
Surrogates for Resilience of Social–Ecological Systems
Getting to maybe
Tackling Biocomplexity with Meta-models for Species Risk Assessment
Nyhus, P. J., R. Lacy, F. R. Westley, P. Miller, H. Vredenburg, P. Paquet, and J. Pollak 2007. Tackling biocomplexity with meta-models for species risk assessment. Ecology and Society 12(1): 31. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-02084-120131
The Evolutionary Basis of Rigidity
Feedbacks leading to alternative stable modes of behavior occur on levels varying from the cell and the mind to societies. The tendency to lock into a certain pattern comes at the cost of the ability to adjust to new situations. The resulting rigidity limits the ability of persons, groups, and companies to respond to new problems, and some even suggest that it may have contributed to the collapse of ancient societies. In the face of these negativ…
Resilience
Plans to solve complex environmental problems should always consider the role of surprise. Nevertheless, there is a tendency to emphasize known computable aspects of a problem while neglecting aspects that are unknown and failing to ask questions about them. The tendency to ignore the noncomputable can be countered by considering a wide range of perspectives, encouraging transparency with regard to conflicting viewpoints, stimulating a diversity …
Voices From the Voluntary Sector
Navigating the Back Loop
Biggs, R., F. R. Westley, and S. R. Carpenter. 2010. Navigating the back loop: fostering social innovation and transformation in ecosystem management. Ecology and Society 15(2): 9. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-03411-150209
From Scientific Speculation to Effective Adaptive Management
Westley, F., M. Holmgren, and M. Scheffer. 2010. From scientific speculation to effective adaptive management: a case study of the role of social marketing in promoting novel restoration strategies for degraded dry lands. Ecology and Society 15(3): 6. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-03168-150306
Reconnecting to the Biosphere
Tipping Toward Sustainability
Surmountable Chasms
Complex challenges demand complex solutions. By their very nature, these problems are difficult to define and are often the result of rigid social structures that effectively act as "traps". However, resilience theory and the adaptive cycle can serve as a useful framework for understanding how humans may move beyond these traps and towards the social innovation that is required to address many complex problems. This paper explores the critical qu…
Perspectives on Resilience to Disasters across Sectors and Cultures
We present some insights on the use and interpretation of resilience ideas that arose in a conference on "Society's Resilience in Withstanding Disaster." Three points in particular have relevance for those interested in resilience in social-ecological systems: (1) Time as a threshold vs. avoiding quick fixes; (2) Trading risks: specified vs. general resilience; (3) Response origination: building local general resilience, and general resilience in…
Sociology (22 works) · Biology (19 works) · Ecology (19 works) · Political science (19 works) · Philosophy (13 works) · Computer Science (12 works) · Geography (12 works) · Economics (11 works) · Environmental resource management (11 works) · Complex Systems and Decision Making (10 works)