Revisiting the Viable System Model as an emancipatory systems approach

This paper acknowledges M.C. Jackson's contributions to the development of systems thinking and particularly to organisational cybernetics. It also reviews his criticisms of Stafford Beer's Viable System Model (VSM) as a ‘unitary, functionalist’ systemic approach, unable to deal with individual, social and political issues, and of Team Syntegrity (TS) as a ‘simple, and somewhere in the middle between pluralist and coercive’, approach. It argues that, whilst Jackson has evolved his view of VSM and TS over the last few decades and has become more supportive of them, Beer and his followers have addressed several of his original criticisms. By referring to recent VSM theoretical and methodological developments, and providing examples of VSM applications in complex, politicised multi‐stakeholder environments, it illustrates how the VSM deals with individual, social and political complexities in practice. It then suggests that, to strengthen Jackson's legacy on systems research and multimethodology, it would be useful to develop a ‘critical empathetic approach’—not only still critical but also supportive and creative—to nourish the development of a more robust trans‐disciplinary systems research agenda.