A recent article about business responses to global warming highlights the extent to which hierarchical thinking can respond adequately to rapid changes in the climate.
And it neatly illustrates the preoccupations of a hierarchical world-view, as understood by grid-group cultural theory.
The article, written by Leon Gettler, centres on the increasing role of ‘Chief Carbon Officer’ in businesses.
‘The job of the future will be the chief carbon officer, or CCO. That’s because global warming is no longer an environmental issue.’
The author sees not only the CCO, but also new job titles like Director of Sustainability Strategy as ‘just the beginning’.
According to grid-group cultural theory, first established by anthropologist Mary Douglas, and expanded by numerous writers in several different disciplines, there are four fundamental world-views, related to social group strength and rule maintenance. The hierarchist position is ‘strong grid, strong group’. In other words it is both highly group-orientated and highly regulated. For this way of thinking, the crisis (any crisis) is less about external factors and more about who is in charge, and how the social structure is to be maintained. Continue reading Can hierarchical thinking fix climate change?
Four Cultures 