Leading scholar-practitioners discuss the strengths, limits, and potential of Integral Theory and the AQAL model.In a world as complex as ours, an integral approach is needed to help sort through a dynamic landscape and respond effectively to individual and collective challenges. Integral Theory in Action provides the first multi-authored overview of such an approach. Integral Theory is the result of 30 years of research and is being applied in over 35 distinct disciplines. This volume brings together two dozen leading scholar-practitioners who are actively applying integral principles and who address a range of issues from an integral perspective including: climate change, embodiment, feminist aesthetics, community discourse, treatment of depression, developmental theory, and global ethics. The strengths, limitations, and potential of Integral Theory and Ken Wilber's AQAL model are weighed by each contributor. This collection pushes the field of Integral Theory in new ways and new directions, and provides a comprehensive overview that makes it an invaluable resource for any integral effort.
Matthew Solomon is Associate Professor of Cinema Studies at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York. He is the author of Disappearing Tricks: Silent Films, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century.
List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsForeword: The Integral Enterprise: Current Frontiers and Possible FuturesRoger N. WalshIntroductionSean Esbjörn-HargensPrologue: The Academic Emergence of Integral Theory: Reflections on and Clarifications of the 1st Biennial Integral Theory ConferenceMark D. Forman and Sean Esbjörn-Hargens1. An Overview of Integral Theory: An All-Inclusive Framework for the Twenty-First CenturySean Esbjörn-HargensI. Applied Perspectives 2.Responding to Climate Change: The Need for an Integral ApproachKaren O’Brien3.Embodiment, an Ascending and Descending DevelopmentTheresa Silow4. Beauty and the Expansion of Women’s IdentityVanessa D. Fisher5. Writing to Effect: Textual Form as Realization in an Integral CommunityMichele Chase6. An Integral Understanding of the Etiology of DepressionElliott IngersollII. Theoretical Perspectives 7. Now You Get It, Now You Don’t: Developmental Differences in the Understanding of Integral Theory and PracticeZachary Stein8. The Final Cause of Cosmic Development: Nondual Spirit or the Second Law of Thermodynamics?Michael E. Zimmerman9. Frames of AQAL, Integral Critical Theory, and the Emerging Integral ArtsMichael Schwartz10. Integral Situational Ethical Pluralism: An Overview of a Second-Tier Ethic for the Twenty-First CenturyRandy Martin11. An Integral Map of Perspective-TakingClint Fuhs12. Second-Tier Gains and Challenges in Ego DevelopmentSusanne Cook-GreuterIII. Constructive Perspectives 13. Rhizomatic Contributions to Integral Ecology in Deleuze and GuattariSam Mickey14. Exploring Epistemic Wisdom: Ethical and Practical Implications of Integral Studies and Methodological Pluralism for Collaboration and Knowledge-BuildingTom Murray15. Appropriation in Integral Theory: The Case of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother’s "Untold" Integral ViewCharles I. Flores16. Of Elephants and Butterflies: An Integral Metatheory for Organizational TransformationMark Edwards17. Developmental Action Inquiry: A Distinct Integral Theory That Actually Integrates Developmental Theory, Practice, and ResearchWilliam R. Torbert, Reut Livne-Tarandach, David McCallum, Aliki Nicolaides, and Elaine Herdman-BarkerAfterword: The Dawn of an Integral AgeKen WilberContributorsIndexContents