Ecological Fields

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to lay a foundation for conceptualizing a form of social ecology that places human systems in the context of a larger ecological field. This will be done by explicitly taking into account closed or self-referential systems theory and extending the logic of that approach by considering how we must think about the relationship among such systems when they inhabit a common environment. This exploratory effort in cognitive construction will challenge the common view that human societies are best understood when we model them as systems rather than as ecological fields. It will also, to a lesser extent, revise and thereby challenge the conceptualization held by ecologists that biotic communities should be thought of as systems, or more properly, ecosystems.