CAHSS Faculty Articles
Consensus/Dissensus: A Relational Alternative to the Metaphor of Power
Publication Title
Journal of Strategic and Systemic Therapies
Publication Date
1-1-1989
Abstract
The legitimacy of the notion of "power," originally debated by Gregory Bateson and Jay Haley, continues to be a point of contention among family therapy theorists and clinicians. This paper discusses power as an artifact of Newtonian science and examines some of the serious problems that can arise when such a metaphor is used as an explanatory device for human interaction. The ideas of "consensus" and "dissensus" are developed as alternative pattern-oriented notions which are more in keeping with the cybernetic epistemology proposed by Bateson.
DOI
10.1521/jsst.1989.8.2-3.58
Volume
8
Issue
2-3
First Page
58
Last Page
64
NSUWorks Citation
Flemons, D. G. (1989). Consensus/Dissensus: A Relational Alternative to the Metaphor of Power. Journal of Strategic and Systemic Therapies, 8 (2-3), 58-64. https://doi.org/10.1521/jsst.1989.8.2-3.58
Comments
Reprinted in Germany as: (1989c). Konsens - Dissens: Eine relationale alternative zur macht-metapher. Zeitschrift fur Systemische Therapie, 7(3), 159-168.