Meta-Networks
= 'meta-networks', which emerge to deal with meta problems - problems too complex for single organisations to handle alone.
Description
Jose Ramos:
"The complexity of issues faced by people (the domain of meta-problems) must be matched by the strength of an inter-organisational domain (meta-networks). As he (Trist) wrote, 'The issues involved are too extensive and too many-sided to be coped with by any single organization, however large. The response capability required to clear up a mess is inter- and multi-organizational' (Trist, 1979, p. 1). He argued that at a certain point issues become 'field related' and a 'domain' begins to emerge. 'Referent organisations' fill the role of coordinating and holding the space for this new domain of inquiry and action." (http://www.scribd.com/doc/43609946/Alternative-Futures-of-Globalisation-A-socio-ecological-study-of-the-world-social-forum-process)
Example
" the meta-problem represented by the pathologies of neo-liberal globalisation hastened the development of ‘domain related inter-organisational networks of actors, which gave birth to the WSF as a 'referent organisation'. In Trist s view, the functions of a referent organisation includes, ‘regulation.... of present relationships and activities; establishing ground rules and maintaining base values; appreciation... of emergent trends and issues [and] developing a shared image of a desirable future; and infrastructure support... resource, information sharing, special projects… (Trist, 1979, p. 9)." (http://www.scribd.com/doc/43609946/Alternative-Futures-of-Globalisation-A-socio-ecological-study-of-the-world-social-forum-process)