Paradox

Have you ever come across a new idea or concept which hasn't been part of your thinking before, and then in the following weeks, found it cropping up in everything you read? Paradox is one of those for me. First it cropped up in an article by James Proctor which I found useful in forming the conclusion to an essay about the role of Geography in the field of Political Ecology. Proctor cites Kierkegaard's view that be ability to "retain paradox is the mark of good inquiry" (1998) in calling for a geography which does not flatten reality under a forced nature-culture dualism, and this clarified for me the argument that I had formed to argue a similar point.

Having thought about this, the notion of paradox suddenly started to seem central to other aspects of my reading - particularly in work questioning the meanings of 'nature', for example Cronon's edited book Uncommon Ground. And again in literature about happiness, which I was using to explore how the economic concept of utility has failed to produce outcomes which maximise human happiness. Much of the happiness literature described how a paradoxical notion of self/the individual as divided and separate from society has tended to produce flawed understandings of happiness.

And most recently, one of the two comments posted in response to posts on this blog has been from Geoffrey Edwards, for whom paradox forms a central interest and subject of two blogs. The suggestion there is that we are in the middle of a paradigm shift from a dominance of orthodoxy to one of paradoxy. Read more here.

Anyone else have anything else to say about paradoxes?

What's next?

I will use this space over the coming weeks to explore in words some of the ideas which I hope to develop in the next year (maybe more). I'll try to describe the area I wish to focus on in general now, and then explore further specific elements of it in future posts.

I also feel that already, just 3 months after starting to write in this (virtual) space, my aims are changing rapidly - casting the very title of this blog into question. This was brought home by a recent post by Geoffrey Edwards on his blog paradoxes and consequences describing his feelings when entering the job market, and how his approach to career moves, etc has changed in the intervening years. Geoffrey suggests that what happens as one emerges from the pre-defined path of school and undergraduate education is more a result of 'who you are' than your 'pedigree' or personal history, and that worrying about the future is unnecessary - events will take place, connections will be made and life unfolds. I think that this very closely reflects my own feeling, and perhaps the title of this blog suggests a sense of worry about the future which doesn't entirely characterise my personal approach! Always interesting to hear how others feel/felt when at this stage of finding direction.

Another of Geoffrey's blogs, From Othodoxy to Paradoxy, is also particularly interesting for me because it also picks up on the theme of paradox - an idea which seems to have cropped up increasingly regularly in my own reading, to the extent that it is shaping the direction I want to take in future research and thinking. Geoffrey presents paradox (or paradoxy) in opposition to the orthodox (orthdoxy); as an alternative approach to the status quo. The twin interests that have developed from my undergraduate work are the way in which we conceptualise nature and society (generally in dualistic opposition), and the (currently slow-moving) transition towards sustainability. At present I'm considering some research examining how the structure of higher education institutions affects the dominant view of nature as separate from society, and whether these dominant modes of thought (encouraged by educational institutions?) are hindering social change for sustainability.

In order to explore some of these ideas, I hope to post here in the future some thoughts about the way educational institutions are divided into disciplines and the potential of interdisciplinary study, the field of critical pedagogy - which I have recently started exploring, and other themes which will lay the groundwork in this area - as they come to me.