A Systems View of Justice

ABSTRACT

Complex systems science can help us to understand justice in a way that harmonises science and religion. An efficient complex system depends on and dynamically meets the needs of all its components, which might in human terms be a definition of justice. Systems failure can lead to collapse. The information that determines system function can be physical, chemical, genetic, ecological, or at the human level in laws and values.

Globalisation has led to the emergence of environmental justice. There are dimensions of the complex system that is humanity on this planet that can be defined with the tools of science. A just civilization must include a natural environment that promotes human well-being and that supplies the environmental conditions and natural resources for that civilization on a fully sustainable basis. Science can also define the goal for environmental well-being at the local level in our community and with respect to our own lifestyle. The Bahá’í Faith provides a new set of systems values, rules and institutions necessary for our evolution to a global ever-advancing civilisation.

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"No light can compare with the light of justice. The establishment of order in the world and the tranquillity of the nations depend upon it." (Baha’u’llah)

Complex systems science can help us to understand justice in a way that harmonises science and religion. We usually think of justice in human terms as the application of laws, whether spiritual or governmental, with some sense of what is right and wrong. An injustice is an act that brings harm to others. We have institutions to determine and apply justice, whether courts in secular society, or Houses of Justice in the Bahá’í system. But perhaps there are also ways that justice can be defined scientifically, at least in certain domains such as the environment.

Complex systems science

Complex systems have many components with many types of interaction between them and with their environment. Relationships can be non-linear, showing emergent properties, feedback loops and adaptations. Such systems are sometimes represented as nodes and links. They show collective or system-wide behaviours, which can include critical transitions or tipping points, leading to punctuated equilibria where a period of stability is followed by a sudden transition, often resulting from external changes. Systems can be nested at multiple levels.

In a systems framework, an efficient system is one in which all the component elements are in a dynamic state of balance where each component receives its optimal share of benefits while performing its service or role efficiently. There is no leadership or hierarchy. The more complex the system, the more it has the potential for emergent properties and higher levels of relationships.

A coral reef ecosystem, for example, includes thousands of species each contributing in some way to the high productivity, efficiency and resilience of the whole, with high levels of symbiosis, cooperation and reciprocity. In the natural world, diversity is the dynamic driver for greater systems complexity, integration, efficiency and resilience. Through long processes of evolution, and both individual and group selection, interactions are selected for that enhance the interrelationships beneficial for all concerned. The greater the number of potential interactions among diverse entities, the greater the capacity of the system to evolve higher levels of complexity.

In Bahá’í texts, the human body is often used as an example of a complex system. “Much like the human body, the interdependent body of humanity is composed of diverse elements whose well-being can only be achieved through integration and coordination. No cell or organ lives apart from the human body, and the well-being of each derives from the well-being of the whole. At the same time, it is the unity and interdependence of the body’s diverse cells and organs that permits the full realization of the distinctive capacities inherent in each” (ISGP 2012).

“The organic unity suggested by this analogy does not imply uniformity. On the contrary, the diversity of the component parts of an organic body permits the full realization of its collective capacity. Within human societies, diversity is a source of inspiration, creativity, productivity, resilience, innovation, and adaptation. Only when diverse segments of society are able to contribute appropriately to the governance of human affairs, within a framework characterized by unity and integration, will real prosperity and well-being be achieved” (ISGP 2012).

“Such unity can only be achieved, however, as justice becomes the guiding principle of governance at all levels. An essential expression of justice is the desire to ensure that every individual and group has the opportunity to develop their full potential in order to contribute to the betterment of society. A concern for justice is thus an indispensable compass in collective decision making. In the design and implementation of plans, programs, and policies, justice is the sole means by which unity of thought and action can be achieved and sustained among diverse peoples.” (ISGP 2012)

There are tools of systems thinking that can help to understand and address issues from a systems perspective. You can look for emergent properties, where the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Try to understand the essential interdependence, with multiple causes and relationships. You can observe resilience in essential functions and structures after a shock. Behind the system there must be a paradigm, an often invisible worldview. An important system property is homeostasis maintaining system integrity. It also helps to understand the context, since actions may be intelligent adaptations to a perceived situation.

You will need to show creative resistance, remaining true to your values, while avoiding denial, combat, and accepting business as usual. You can try iterative experimentation, with prototypes and small steps, cultivating desire rather than force, and not wasting energy fighting a powerful system. It helps to have a shared vision which is necessary for collective action, listening to the stakeholders and their reality. Find a common language and co-construct a vision of the desirable future.

Try to look for fundamental solutions, finding the source or strategic point to leverage a big effect. Diagnose the present in the light of the future vision. Create solutions that resolve the tension between the present and future, and then decide which actions to start today.

Systems science can help in asking the right questions. What is important in a complex system is not just the number of different entities and their distinct qualities, but how they interact. Will they simply fight until one comes out the winner? Or do they have a common purpose, with complementary functions, each contributing to the well-being and productivity of the whole? How do they communicate and share information? Is the system more than the sum of the parts? Has it evolved higher levels of complexity and efficiency?

The information in complex systems and the rules by which they function are coded differently as the layers of complexity increase, from physical laws and chemical interactions to DNA instructions and ecological interactions. In human systems, the coding can be in cultures, laws and ultimately values that determine how people relate to each other. Systems scientist Donella Meadows, in her 1999 "Leverage Points for Systems Change", gave the highest points to intervene in a system as the power to evolve or self-organize, the goals of the system, the paradigm of values out of which the system arises, and ultimately the power to transcend paradigms for a millennium, such as by founding a new religion. We need a values shift and paradigm change for our survival (Dahl 2020).

An inefficient system, perhaps where a few components dominate and exploit other components, or where environmental conditions or external resources have changed so that the system is upset beyond normal variation, can be driven to collapse. When a system gets severely out of balance, overshoot and collapse are the normal response. If a system becomes too rigid and inflexible, fails to respect resource limits, is unable to innovate in changing conditions, collapse is a mechanism to sweep away obstacles to change and to allow evolution to proceed. The collapse of civilizations has been widely discussed (Meadows et al. 1972, 1992, 2004; Homer-Dixon 2006; MacKenzie 2008, 2012; Turchin 2006, 2010, 2016; Ehrlich and Ehrlich 2013; Diamond 2005, 2019; Dixson-Declève et al. 2022). (Dahl 2020)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his report to the General Assembly on priorities for 2023, warned about “a confluence of challenges unlike any other in our lifetimes. Wars grind on. The climate crisis burns on. Extreme wealth and extreme poverty rage on. The gulf between the haves and have nots is cleaving societies, countries and our wider world. Epic geopolitical divisions are undermining global solidarity and trust. This path is a dead end.” He called this deeply irresponsible and immoral. For example, in his report to the UN Security Council on 14 February 2023, he said that rising seas pose “unthinkable” risks to billions, with profound implications for security, international law, and human rights, including the mass exodus of entire populations, competition for fresh water, low-lying communities and entire countries that could disappear, representing danger for 900 million people living in coastal zones.

This could be seen in a broad systems perspective as part of the rise and fall of civilizations. The decline of an old bankrupt system creates the opportunity to build a new and better one. In particular, atheist Peter Turchin has described how higher levels of ethnically-diverse civilization are catalysed by ethical values from religion. These build trust among otherwise competing groups, increase the level of altruism among leaders, and provide the foundation and energy for new levels of organization and efficiency (Turchin 2016).

How does this relate to justice? An efficient system with all contributing, and meeting the needs of all peoples with equity might, in human terms, be a definition of justice. Complex systems science can help to reveal how well a community or society approaches the ideal and where there are inefficiencies or errors to be corrected. It is no accident that many of the most creative proposals for addressing the problems of the world today come from systems thinkers, such as the Club of Rome. After The Limits to Growth in 1972, it released Earth for All: A survival guide for humanity in 2022. It calls for five extraordinary turnarounds in transformational economics to avoid economic and social collapse: eliminate poverty, reduce inequality, empower women, transform food systems, and turn around the energy system (Dixson-Declève et al. 2022).

A systems approach also underlies the arguments for global governance, since on a planet where, through technology, human society has globalised, the system needs to be managed at a global level (Lopez-Claros, Dahl and Groff 2020).

Environmental justice

The planet is giving us a new definition of justice. We need to maintain the environmental conditions that make life possible, minimise human suffering from physical causes, and achieve material or environmental well-being for the greatest number. This might be called climate justice or environmental justice, and we can use the tools of science to delimit dimensions of injustice and to measure what we need to do and how well we might be going in the right direction.

Science is revealing how accelerated environmental changes are impacting human and collective security, from extreme heat, drought, flooding, crop failure, water shortages, desertification, disease, food insecurity, famine, forced migration, and unprecedented disruptions. These impacts are disproportionately affecting regions and countries that are the least responsible, many of which also suffer from conflict, fragility, violence, and other instabilities. It is the poorest and least-able to respond who bear the brunt of these changes. (Interim People’s Pact 2023)

At the global level, the planetary boundaries show where human impacts are far beyond planetary limits, poisoning us, and eroding the natural capital on which all life depends (Richardson et al. 2023). At this level, environmental justice should include maintaining a livable planet providing for all our physical needs for at least the 500,000 years of the Bahá’í cycle.

Research has now demonstrated the justice dimensions of crossing planetary boundaries (Rockstrom et al. 2023). This addresses the fears of many developing countries and disadvantaged groups about what should be done and by whom, in returning within planetary limits. There are five obvious injustices: (1) some regions and populations are far more vulnerable to climate and environmental impacts; (2) the same people have contributed least to the problems; (3) in the process, their fair share of natural resources and services has been appropriated by others, limiting their available pathways to development; (4) this reduces their access to the benefits of progress, leaving them poor; and (5) they are often vulnerable locally well before global limits have been reached. A ‘just’ limit has already been crossed in the last decade, as demonstrated by millions of people already impacted by climate-related hazards, with some countries facing inevitable drowning by sea level rise from historic emissions (Obura 2024).

At the local level, science defines the environmental dangers and risks we face, including pollutants harming our health, the quality and quantity of essential resources such as water, shelter, clean air, temperatures within a safe or adaptable range, and threats to our security from natural hazards and extreme events. All of those can be seen as potential injustices to all exposed to them, especially when they have human causes that could be avoided.

Certain of the planetary boundaries are actually expressed partly at local levels, not global, such as land-use change, biodiversity loss and pollution. These challenges thus cannot be addressed only at the global level. Agenda 2030 and the SDGs require that no-one be left behind, that the benefits of nature and global society be shared with all people on the planet. What is needed is a global ‘safety net’ that integrates knowledge and addresses risk across all countries, and down to local levels (Obura 2024).

A critical challenge is to make these global initiatives relevant to the lives of the most vulnerable people, in highly diverse local spaces. All of these injustices disadvantage poorer communities and poorer countries. Using science to define the local dimension of critical planetary boundaries leads to nature-based solutions within the capacity of local people and for locally-determined benefits, addressing multiple dimensions of justice. Equity must drive decision-making, identifying the fair direction of resource flows, and turning nature- negative activities to nature- and people- positive ones. Where there are places and contexts with a justice deficit in any of the five dimensions, resources should be redirected to redress these, with a focus on natural assets as the foundation for resilience and welfare in all local spaces (Obura 2024).

Far from placing limits on the future development of disadvantaged countries or sectors of society, this perspective strengthens mechanisms for integrating resource flows in economic and policy processes, to raise people out of poverty and establish a more level international playing field. Nature-based solutions implemented through a planetary boundaries lens provide a critical perspective to accelerate actions towards true sustainable development. (Interim People’s Pact for the Future)

We also need food security, and depend on a constant supply of adequate and nutritious food for our survival. Some may be produced locally, or even through our own efforts, but much probably comes from elsewhere through complex supply chains from producers who may or may not be sustainable in their agricultural or harvesting practices.

Similarly, science can define how our individual behaviour has impacts that hurt others in our own community and elsewhere.

A just civilisation

At the broader level of human systems, we have created institutions that are inherently unjust because they ignore their impacts on the global system and pursue a narrowly defined purpose with the end justifying any means. The modern multinational corporation is an obvious example, legally-bound by its fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders, pursuing short-term profit through any means that makes money: arms and weapons, addictive drugs/chemicals (caffeine, nicotine, narcotics, alcohol, etc.), addictive technologies, violence and sex entertainment, gambling, etc.

At the organisational level of human governance institutions, we are presently trapped in a framework of national sovereignty from another era, with each country looking first at its own well-being and competing with others without regard to the well-being of the whole. Present global institutions of governance are largely voluntary and unable to address global problems effectively, requiring a new approach to global governance (Lopez-Claros, Dahl and Groff 2020).

The present materialistic civilisation aims to fulfil only our physical needs and desires, which tend to be egotistical and self-centred. It even ignores the requirements for coherent societies, which depend on moral and ethical values, not to mention our true purpose and spiritual potential, which when recreated to maximise love and selfless service will open a whole new dimension of social systems that enable an ever-advancing civilisation. This also requires justice with the natural world, integrating human communities into the ecosystems and resources appropriate to each locality on this diverse and complex planet.

“Putting the world on more ecologically sustainable foundations requires a recasting of the global economic order. People and the planet need to be valued as explicitly today as profit and economic gain have been in the past…. Basic notions of progress, development, and prosperity will need to be recast in far more holistic terms” (BIC 2022).

A just civilisation requires coherent societies, which depend on moral and ethical values. It should aim to achieve our true purpose and spiritual potential, maximising love and selfless service. This will open a whole new dimension of social systems, enabling an ever-advancing civilisation. It will require justice with the natural world, integrating human communities into the ecosystems and resources appropriate to each locality on this diverse and complex planet.

If we look at complex systems science from the perspective of the Bahá’í Faith, it becomes clear that Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings provide the set of system rules and instructions for learning that can build a whole new level of complexity and well-being in a global human society, based on the transformation of each individual human component from a self-centred individualist focussed on immediate physical gratification to a humble, selfless servant building unity with all of humanity out of love. This will enable our societies to show emergent properties of integration and cooperation, just as in highly evolved ecosystems (Dahl 1996).

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