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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

AbstractDespite concerted efforts, several plans and policies of the government addressing rural electrification remained unrealized since India's independence. Although India attained near‐complete grid connectivity in 2018, the problem of inconsistent, unreliable and unaffordable electricity persists, expressly in remote and rural areas. This paper conceptualizes issues of rural electrification in India as a 'Wicked Problem' – a systems thinking approach used vastly for understanding complex and multidimensional aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The problem is characterized as a sub‐target of SDG 7 i.e. universal energy access. The stakeholders of rural electrification in India were approached ‐ their feedback was mapped in the power‐interest matrix. A causal loop diagram was prepared that helped in the identification of various themes through balancing and reinforcing loops. This study makes a methodological contribution to conceptual analysis prompting decision‐making through mental models over existing frameworks used for addressing rural electrification in India.

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.

Le présent article cherche à résoudre la question de l'inégalité économique des femmes à partir de la perspective de la théorie de la conception. Le concept des «problèmes pernicieux» qui a pour exemple paradigmatique, l'égalité des sexes, permet aux féministes d'examiner les multiples approches que nous avons adoptées dans le passé pour contrer les désavantages des femmes comme des éléments nécessaires et utiles dans la démarche menant à la résolution de l'inégalité. L'article passe en revue une diversité d'efforts au Manitoba, aussi bien que la mise au point de l'analyse fondée sur les genres par le Comité sur l'élimination de la discrimination à l'égard des femmes, comme exemples des façons par lesquelles les féministes ont abordé les problèmes pernicieux depuis des décennies et conclut que nous devons continuer d'exiger que les gouvernements mettent en oeuvre des politiques qui peuvent aider le Canada à se rapprocher de cet idéal d'égalité.

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.