Autopoiesis
The property of a system that continuously produces and maintains the components and boundary that constitute it.
Why it matters now
A cell makes the membrane that makes the cell possible. This is the sharpest available description of what life does, and it sets a design standard for human systems: an economy that consumes its own conditions is not self-producing but self-consuming. Regenerative agriculture and circular materials are attempts to build genuinely autopoietic human systems.
Where this is happening on Earth
- South AmericaHumberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, University of Chile, SantiagoCoined the term and built a theory of living organisation around it.
- AsiaRice paddy systems of Bali and the Philippine CordillerasTerraces, water temples, and fields that have reproduced their own conditions for a thousand years.
- AfricaZai pit and half-moon restoration, Burkina Faso and NigerTechniques that rebuild the soil that makes the technique work, spreading across the Sahel.
- EuropeCoppice woodland management across Britain and central EuropeHarvesting that regenerates the resource, sustained for centuries.
- North AmericaMilpa and three sisters polyculture, MesoamericaA cropping system in which each species creates conditions the others need.
The idea itself
The encyclopedia entry first, then live searches at journals and magazines that keep returning current work on this specific idea.
Current reporting from around the world
Standing feeds at reputable periodicals. These stay fresh on their own, which is why they are here instead of a list of articles that would be out of date within a season.