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Microcredit as a response to a wicked problem responsibility for wicked problems -- Institutional study of microcredit : successes and failures -- Innovations to make microcredit a more powerful tool -- Other micro products and services to attack the problem -- Concluding remarks on motivation for research -- References

The "problem of organization" has long been a core preoccupation of the Marxist tradition and labour movements. This article argues it is best understood as what some social planners call a "wicked problem," one that cannot ultimately be "solved," only "re-solved—over and over again." It identifies a set of hallmark theoretical tools developed by the Italian Marxian tradition of operaismo (sometimes referred to as "autonomist Marxism") with which it can nevertheless be productively approached. First, a "Copernican inversion" of "orthodox"—specifically, "dialectical materialist"—Marxism, focusing on the primacy of labour struggles in driving capitalist development. Second, an attention to "class composition" and the shifts in the political expression of labour movements as the technical make-up of labour changes. Third, accounting for these shifts through an analysis of "cycles of struggle." And finally, approaching the (wicked) problem of organization in terms of an effort to increase labour's "autonomy" from capital.

A strong Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is beneficial to all Canadians. The CAF provide necessary security for the nation, North America, and internationally. The process of building a suitable and sustainable force to meet their mandate, as set by the Government of Canada, is time-intensive and expensive. This situation underscores the necessity of retaining well-trained personnel to allow the CAF to accomplish their missions, while ensuring the next generation is adequately prepared to carry on and adapt to new government priorities. Currently, maintaining an adequate number of military members is a struggle and research is required to better understand why this is the case. Rittel and Webber's 'Wicked Problem' theory, in which social policy issues are unsolvable and instead need to be managed indefinitely, provides valuable insight. To demonstrate that the retention problem within the CAF is a wicked problem, a combination of primary and secondary data analysis on the CAF, and a comparative case study were completed. As a wicked problem, the CAF need to recognize that retention is an issue that can only be managed, not solved. While clear similarities exist between the CAF and NZDF, especially around military families, the Canadian provincial system, compared to the New Zealand unitary system, creates additional complications, none of which the CAF can fix. Future research is required to understand the retention issue in Canada, specifically in terms of the potential relationship between military equipment procurement and retention, as was recognized within the NZDF. ; October 2020

Although best known for his perceived critiques of Christianity in his 1967 "Historical Roots" article, I draw upon Lynn Townsend White, jr.'s lesser-known texts and unpublished archival materials to argue that White made a significant, constructive contribution to environmental ethics. Through his rejection of anthropocentric and prudential forms of ethics, White proposed an ethic of compassion for nature rooted in his notion of a "spiritual democracy of all God's creatures." This ethical model, referred to here as Christian ecocentrism, is offered as a framework for Christian reflection and as a means for changing attitudes and behaviors on the "wicked problem" of climate change.

Since World War II, it seems like the result of America's participation in war has fallen short of our goals. We enter with the best of intentions, seeking a low cost, swift conflict and an overwhelming victory without excessive casualties (American, civilian or even enemy). During the opening stages of these conflicts the overriding question seems to be "what is the exit strategy?" Muddled in there may be an idea of what victory might look like. We seem reluctant to ask, "How do we win?" and instead wring our hands saying, "Tell me how this ends." This paper discusses how for American policy makers and military leadership, understanding war as a wicked problem is the first step necessary to reframe our understanding and response to the need to use military force. This site displays abstracts of MOC Warfighter articles. Department of Defense CAC-authenticated users may download full copies of the articles at this site. Others may request copies of specified articles by contacting the MOC Warfighter administrator.

Income and wealth inequality is on the rise in the United States of America. While a select few are seeing their wealth increase dramatically, the large majority of Americans are struggling economically. The United States' stubbornness to remain chained to a rugged version of capitalism is the root cause of the inequality that is running rampant in the United States. To reach a large audience, I created a rap song to convey the feelings of most Americans. This rap song outlines the unfair treatment of the American people, the ineptitude of the government, and the large sums of money billionaires create, which leads to widespread inequality.

In 2009 I published a law review article that both explained why I believed that climate change was a "super wicked" problem for lawmakers and offered specific recommendations for ways that any laws addressing climate change should be crafted in light of its super wicked nature. The purpose of this subsequent Article is to revisit, modify, and update my earlier analysis based on the actual events of the past decade. Such hindsight analysis necessarily requires acknowledging, a bit embarrassingly, the things that I got wrong. Though, in my partial (not complete!) defense, I am in good company given the wholly unpredictable and truly whipsaw nature of the nation's changing political landscape between 2009 and the present. The only thing that links the presidencies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump is the highly remote nature of their electoral prospects when each announced their respective candidacies for President. In every other way, it is hard to imagine two more different people across every possible personal and professional dimension, including their views on climate change. The Article is divided into three parts. Part I reviews my 2009 thesis and focuses on what I got wrong. After all, I might as well confess those errors up front and not beat around the bush. Part II addresses the literal elephant in the room—the 2016 election of Donald Trump as President of the United States—and contends that Trump's election and his conduct since taking the oath of office are expressions of the super wicked nature of climate change. Or to say it a bit more provocatively, yes, President Trump is super wicked. (I feel better already.) Part III takes stock of where we are now by exploring how we can best address climate change in light of lessons learned since 2009. Our prospects today for addressing climate change are far less promising than I had hoped in 2009. Time is not costless in the fight against climate change, and each year since 2009 has further set us back.

The Commonwealth's periodic attempts at housing and urban policy reform since the 1940s have been made in the face of a federal structure that allocates responsibility for such matters to the states. This paper explores the experience of federal governments since the 1940s, considering the various styles of political leadership, varying ways in which the problem has been framed, and differing policy settings that have been employed in resolving policy challenges. The historical narrative clarifies phases of active engagement and reaction, linking these to fiscal asymmetry and distribution of federal-state responsibilities, historical 'gateway' events, and transitions in policy paradigms. We argue that housing is a perpetual concern (both a basic need and an aspirational objective) and is so integrally related to other policy domains-in which decisions may have unintended consequences for housing-that it is never conclusively resolved. The complexity (and uncertainty) consequent upon these inter-relationships ensures that housing remains a wicked problem. The visual metaphor of a complexity cascade, however, may assist a more nuanced appreciation of the direction of policy travel. © 2015 Institute of Public Administration Australia.

Old-growth forest is an often-used term that seems to be intuitively understood by ecologists and forest managers, and the wide-ranging discussion of its social and ecological values suggests it has currency among the general public as well. However, a decades-long discourse regarding a generally acceptable definition of old-growth, in both conceptual and practical terms, has gone largely unresolved. This is partially because old-growth is simultaneously an ecological state, a value-laden social concept, and a polarizing political phenomenon, each facet of its identity influencing the others in complex ways. However, the public, scientific, and management discourse on old-growth has also suffered from simplifying tendencies which are at odds with old-growth's inherently complex nature. Such complexity confounds simple or rationalistic management approaches, and the forest management arena has witnessed the collision of impassioned and contradictory opinions on the 'right way' to manage old-growth forests, ranging from strict preservationism to utilitarian indifference. What is clear is that management approaches that circumvent, trivialize, eliminate, or ignore old-growth's inherent complexity may do so at the expense of the very characteristics from which old-growth derives its perceived value. We explore the paradoxes presented by the various approaches to old-growth description and definition and present some plausible paths forward for old-growth theory and management, with a particular focus on managed forests.