FOUCAULT PLAYS HABERMAS - AN ALTERNATIVE PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNING FOR CRITICAL SYSTEMS THINKING

Critical Systems Thinking (CST) has traditionally sought its philosoph ical underpinning in the work of German theorist Jurgen Habermas. We s uggest that CST need not necessarily be informed by Habermas, and pres ent the thought of Michel Foucault as one possible alternative. This p aper traces the historical development of the relative positions of Ha bermas and Foucault and examines the differences between the two with regard to systems. Our aim is to spark and inform debate within the sy stems/OR community as to the relative merits of each as a basis for CS T.