The Way We Think Now

Recent theoretical work in systemic theory has focused on the development and consolidation of 'third wave' concepts and practices, associated with post-modernism, hermeneutics and dialogism. These twentieth century movements encourage us to attend to the local historical context from which, and in which, ideas and concepts emerge and then develop traction, and to explore the ideological commitments that expressed through these ideas and concepts. The systemic community has not explored in detail the origins and appeal of the 'third wave' ideas currently in favour, or the tensions that might be generated when ideas from outside are co-opted into the systemic tradition. The core thesis of the book is that systemic theory represents a 'niche' in our cultural and intellectual history, which 'pulls in' and transforms ideas from wider culture as tools for the therapist confronted by particular, and local, ways of being distressed. These ways of being distressed are themselves and in turn only meaningful in a wider cultural context. The intention here is to expose the forces at work in shaping our use of ideas.