Ecological vision: reflections on the American condition

Table of contents

pt. 1. American Experiences. 1. The American Genius Is Political. 2. Calhoun's Pluralism. 3. Henry Ford: The Last Populist. 4. IBM's Watson: Vision for Tomorrow. 5. The Myth of American Uniformity
pt. 2. Economics as a Social Dimension. 6. The Economic Basis of American Politics. 7. The Poverty of Economic Theory. 8. The Delusion of Profits. 9. Schumpeter and Keynes. 10. Keynes: Economics as a Magical System
pt. 3. The Social Function of Management. 11. Management's Role. 12. Management: The Problems of Success. 13. Social Innovation: Management's New Dimension
pt. 4. Business as a Social Institution. 14. Can There Be Business Ethics? 15. The New Productivity Challenge. 16. The Emerging Theory of Manufacturing. 17. The Hostile Takeover and Its Discontents
pt. 5. Work, Tools, and Society. 18. Work and Tools. 19. Technology, Science, and Culture. 20. India and Appropriate Technology. 21. The First Technological Revolution and Its Lessions
pt. 6. The Information-Based Society. 22. Information, Communications, and Understanding. 23. Information and the Future of the City. 24. The Information-Based Organization
pt. 7. Japan as Society and Civilization. 25. A View of Japan through Japanese Art. 26. Japan: The Problems of Success. 27. Behind Japan's Success. 28. Misinterpreting Japan and the Japanese. 29. How Westernized Are the Japanese?
pt. 8. Why Society Is Not Enough. 30. The Unfashionable Kierkegaard
Afterword: Reflections of a Social Ecologist

Periods of great social change reveal a tension between the need for continuity and the need for innovation. To comprehend these changes as history and as guideposts to the future, Peter F. Drucker has, over a lifetime, pursued a discipline that he terms social ecology. The writings brought together in The Ecological Vision define the discipline as a sustained inquiry into the man-made environment and an active effort at maintaining equilibrium between change and conservation.