Open AccessProgram, complexity, and system when evaluating sustainable development
Author(s) -
Nicoletta Stame
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
evaluation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.998
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1461-7153
pISSN - 1356-3890
DOI - 10.1177/13563890211065488
Subject(s) - perspective (graphical) , opposition (politics) , simplicity , argument (complex analysis) , sustainable development , management science , computer science , epistemology , risk analysis (engineering) , sociology , engineering ethics , political science , business , engineering , artificial intelligence , law , medicine , philosophy , politics
In light of the challenges of the Anthropocene, it is common today for evaluators to propose a systems rather than a program perspective. A program perspective is reproached for its simplicity and linearity, while the systems perspective is praised for its ability to account for complexity and emergence. This article argues that even before the systems perspective appeared on the horizon, the story of program evaluation had been characterized by a confrontation between “simplifiers” and “complexifiers.” It enquires into the lessons that the complexifiers of the evaluation of programs have handed on to evaluators who are facing the current challenges of sustainable development. On the other hand, when analyzing what a systems perspective contributes, the article is alert to the risk that a “holistic” view may ignore lessons complexifiers have to offer. This argument is supported by considering the way in which a systems perspective is understood in the practice of evaluation. Conclusions invite readers to overcome a misleading opposition between the two perspectives and indicate possible cross-fertilization across different units of analysis and approaches.