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87-475: Group meetings are held weekly and decisions are reached through consensus . Many members, and the community in general, encourage environmental awareness , therefore they strive to live lightly on the land. Although structured in areas such as membership, policies are kept to a minimum; it is preferred that calm anarchy prevail. Of the policies that are in place, the culture encourages personal responsibility rather than supervision. The community takes on issues on

174-471: A musyawarah consensus-building process in which parties mediate to find peace and avoid future hostility and revenge. The resulting agreements are expected to be followed, and range from advice and warnings to compensation and exile. The origins of formal consensus -making can be traced significantly further back, to the Religious Society of Friends , or Quakers, who adopted the technique as early as

261-417: A systemic bias , a rigged process (where an agenda is not published in advance or changed when it becomes clear who is present to consent), fear of speaking one's mind, a lack of creativity (to suggest alternatives) or even a lack of courage (to go further along the same road to a more extreme solution that would not achieve unanimous consent). Unanimity is achieved when the full group apparently consents to

348-538: A 75% supermajority to finalize its decisions, potentially as early as 1142. In the Xulu and Xhosa (South African) process of indaba , community leaders gather to listen to the public and negotiate figurative thresholds towards an acceptable compromise. The technique was also used during the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference . In Aceh and Nias cultures (Indonesian), family and regional disputes, from playground fights to estate inheritance, are handled through

435-605: A Japanese company, they had to discuss the idea with everyone even the janitor, yet once a decision was made the Americans found the Japanese were able to act much quicker because everyone was on board, while the Americans had to struggle with internal opposition. Outside of Western culture, multiple other cultures have used consensus decision-making. One early example is the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy Grand Council , which used

522-580: A New Society (MNS) has been credited for popularizing consensus decision-making. Unhappy with the inactivity of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) against the Vietnam War , Lawrence Scott started A Quaker Action Group (AQAG) in 1966 to try and encourage activism within the Quakers. By 1971 AQAG members felt they needed not only to end the war, but transform civil society as a whole, and renamed AQAG to MNS. MNS members used consensus decision-making from

609-443: A case-by-case basis, keeping in mind that needs are varied among individuals. Both the population and stability of Acorn have fluctuated significantly in its relatively short history. Acorn supports itself through its non- GMO heirloom seed business, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange . The income from this business is held in common and used to support Acorn's members, as well as a number of other activities (such as maintenance of

696-443: A chemical company have resulted in controversies. The company once manufactured controversial products such as the insecticide DDT , PCBs , Agent Orange , and recombinant bovine growth hormone . In September 2016, German chemical company Bayer announced its intent to acquire Monsanto for US$ 66 billion in an all-cash deal. After gaining U.S. and EU regulatory approval, the sale was completed on June 7, 2018. The name Monsanto

783-404: A company that produced computer hardware and software designed to enable farmers to increase yield and productivity through more precise planting. Monsanto purchased San Francisco-based Climate Corp for $ 930 million in 2013. Climate Corp makes local weather forecasts for farmers based on data modelling and historical data; if the forecasts were wrong, the farmer was compensated. In May 2013,

870-539: A decision. It has disadvantages insofar as further disagreement, improvements or better ideas then remain hidden, but effectively ends the debate moving it to an implementation phase. Some consider all unanimity a form of groupthink, and some experts propose "coding systems ... for detecting the illusion of unanimity symptom". In Consensus is not Unanimity , long-time progressive change activist Randy Schutt writes: Many people think of consensus as simply an extended voting method in which everyone must cast their votes

957-488: A diversity of thought. The facilitator is understood as serving the group rather than acting as person-in-charge. In the Quaker model, as with other consensus decision-making processes, articulating the emerging consensus allows members to be clear on the decision in front of them. As members' views are taken into account they are likely to support it. The consensus decision-making process often has several roles designed to make

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1044-446: A fall-back method to strategically incentivize consensus over blocking. However, this makes it very difficult to tell the difference between those who support the decision and those who merely tactically tolerate it for the incentive. Once they receive that incentive, they may undermine or refuse to implement the agreement in various and non-obvious ways. In general voting systems avoid allowing offering incentives (or "bribes") to change

1131-450: A fund to support the formation of other cooperative egalitarian communities). All members have full medical, dental, and optical care, as well as a monthly stipend. Acorn has a highly flexible self-directed labor system in keeping with its philosophy of non-hierarchy and personal independence coupled with personal responsibility. The work of the seed business is done by a dynamic and flexible collection of members and guests who attend to

1218-427: A generally accepted opinion – "general agreement or concord; harmony", "a majority of opinion" – or the outcome of a consensus decision-making process. This article refers to the process and the outcome (e.g. "to decide by consensus" and " a consensus was reached"). Consensus decision-making, as a self-described practice, originates from several nonviolent , direct action groups that were active in

1305-521: A heartfelt vote. In the Abilene paradox , a group can unanimously agree on a course of action that no individual member of the group desires because no one individual is willing to go against the perceived will of the decision-making body. Since consensus decision-making focuses on discussion and seeks the input of all participants, it can be a time-consuming process. This is a potential liability in situations where decisions must be made speedily, or where it

1392-528: A long-term agreement to cooperate in the research, development, and marketing of new plant biotechnology products. In 2008, Monsanto purchased Dutch seed company De Ruiter Seeds for €546 million, and sold its POSILAC bovine somatotropin brand and related business to Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly & Co , in August for $ 300 million plus "additional contingent consideration". In 2012, Monsanto purchased for $ 210 million Precision Planting Inc. ,

1479-399: A mechanical method for verifying such consensus, apparently in the belief that any such codification leads to attempts to " game the system ." Instead, a working group (WG) chair or BoF chair is supposed to articulate the "sense of the group." One tradition in support of rough consensus is the tradition of humming rather than (countable) hand-raising; this allows a group to quickly discern

1566-471: A mechanism for dealing with disagreements. The Quaker model has been adapted by Earlham College for application to secular settings, and can be effectively applied in any consensus decision-making process. Its process includes: Key components of Quaker-based consensus include a belief in a common humanity and the ability to decide together. The goal is "unity, not unanimity." Ensuring that group members speak only once until others are heard encourages

1653-459: A new company, the "new Monsanto", focused on four key agricultural crops—soybeans, maize, wheat and cotton. Monsanto agreed to indemnify Pharmacia against potential liabilities from judgments against Solutia . As a result, the new Monsanto continued to be a party to numerous lawsuits over the prior Monsanto. Pharmacia was bought by Pfizer in 2003. In 2005, Monsanto acquired Emergent Genetics and its Stoneville and NexGen cotton brands. Emergent

1740-565: A pioneer of optoelectronics in the 1970s. Between 1968 and 1974, the company sponsored the PGA Tour event in Pensacola, Florida, which was renamed the Monsanto Open . In 1974, Harvard University and Monsanto signed a 10-year research grant to support the cancer research of Judah Folkman , which became the largest such arrangement ever made; medical inventions arising from that research were

1827-415: A provisional member. The decision, like all decisions at Acorn, is made through consensus. Once accepted, a person remains a provisional member for one year and then the full members decide whether or not to accept that person into full membership. Provisional membership is a trial membership and that person remains at Acorn so long as that person has the consent of members to be there. If at any time consent

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1914-455: A result of this system, members feel they have significantly more free time than when they were working regular jobs. Based upon meeting the minimum amount of work expected, members enjoy four weeks of vacation per year. By working over the expected quota members can accumulate additional vacation time. The labor system at Acorn is quite unstructured. However, this does not mean members simply do whatever they want and call it work. Keeping in mind

2001-448: A specific decision-making process. The level of agreement necessary to finalize a decision is known as a decision rule . Diversity of opinion is normal in most all situations, and will be represented proportionately in an appropriately functioning group. Even with goodwill and social awareness, citizens are likely to disagree in their political opinions and judgments. Differences of interest as well as of perception and values will lead

2088-424: A symbol of strength. In his book about Misplaced Pages, Joseph Reagle considers the merits and challenges of consensus in open and online communities. Randy Schutt, Starhawk and other practitioners of direct action focus on the hazards of apparent agreement followed by action in which group splits become dangerously obvious. Unanimous, or apparently unanimous, decisions can have drawbacks. They may be symptoms of

2175-465: A way that assures that "everyone must be heard". The Modified Borda Count voting method has been advocated as more 'consensual' than majority voting, by, among others, by Ramón Llull in 1199, by Nicholas Cusanus in 1435, by Jean-Charles de Borda in 1784, by Hother Hage in 1860, by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) in 1884, and by Peter Emerson in 1986. Japanese companies normally use consensus decision-making, meaning that unanimous support on

2262-545: A way to selectively synthesize enantiomers via asymmetric hydrogenation . This was the first method for the catalytic production of pure chiral compounds. Knowles' team designed the "first industrial process to chirally synthesize an important compound"— L‑dopa , which is used to treat Parkinson's disease . In 2001, Knowles and Ryōji Noyori won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry . In the mid-1960s, chemists at Monsanto developed

2349-460: A worldwide protest against Monsanto corporation, called March Against Monsanto , was held in over 400 cities. A second protest took place in May 2014. Monsanto tried to acquire Swiss agro-biotechnology rival Syngenta for US$ 46.5 billion in 2015, but failed. In that year Monsanto was the world's biggest supplier of seeds, controlling 26% of the global seed market (Du Pont was second with 21%). Monsanto

2436-475: Is Roundup , a glyphosate -based herbicide , developed in the 1970s. Later, the company became a major producer of genetically engineered crops. In 2018, the company ranked 199th on the Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue. Monsanto was one of four groups to introduce genes into plants in 1983, and was among the first to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops in 1987. It

2523-448: Is Fall of 2014. There are also a number of outbuildings including a wood shop, an auto shop, barns, greenhouses, seed processing facilities, and long-term seed storage freezers. 37°54′52″N 77°55′32″W  /  37.9144°N 77.9255°W  / 37.9144; -77.9255 Consensus decision-making Consensus is built by a group decision-making process in which participants develop and decide on proposals with

2610-442: Is an alternative to commonly practiced group decision-making processes. Robert's Rules of Order , for instance, is a guide book used by many organizations. This book on Parliamentary Procedure allows the structuring of debate and passage of proposals that can be approved through a form of majority vote. It does not emphasize the goal of full agreement. Critics of such a process believe that it can involve adversarial debate and

2697-482: Is between Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association and Monsanto. This class action suit was litigated by the Public Patent Foundation in response to Monsanto's multiple lawsuits against farmers who have been contaminated by their GMO seeds. Living is communal rather than individuals living in their own houses. Each member is provided with their own bedroom in one of the four living structures. In 2013,

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2784-406: Is done, this coercive process is not consensus. Confusion between unanimity and consensus, in other words, usually causes consensus decision-making to fail, and the group then either reverts to majority or supermajority rule or disbands. Most robust models of consensus exclude uniformly unanimous decisions and require at least documentation of minority concerns. Some state clearly that unanimity

2871-429: Is not consensus but rather evidence of intimidation, lack of imagination, lack of courage, failure to include all voices, or deliberate exclusion of the contrary views. Some proponents of consensus decision-making view procedures that use majority rule as undesirable for several reasons. Majority voting is regarded as competitive , rather than cooperative , framing decision-making in a win/lose dichotomy that ignores

2958-438: Is not possible to canvass opinions of all delegates in a reasonable time. Additionally, the time commitment required to engage in the consensus decision-making process can sometimes act as a barrier to participation for individuals unable or unwilling to make the commitment. However, once a decision has been reached it can be acted on more quickly than a decision handed down. American businessmen complained that in negotiations with

3045-516: Is required for the task to be done; this is coupled with the agreement and assumption of responsibility of the other participants. The farm works in large part due to the fact that the community carefully chooses who becomes a member by a process called Clearness. After spending three weeks visiting the community, prospective members get "clear" with every single member of the community by meeting individually for in-depth conversations. Then all members meet to decide whether or not to accept that person as

3132-672: Is still observed that defies factional explanations. Nearly 40% of the decisions of the United States Supreme Court , for example, are unanimous, though often for widely varying reasons. "Consensus in Supreme Court voting, particularly the extreme consensus of unanimity, has often puzzled Court observers who adhere to ideological accounts of judicial decision making." Historical evidence is mixed on whether particular Justices' views were suppressed in favour of public unity. Heitzig and Simmons (2012) suggest using random selection as

3219-478: Is withdrawn that person must leave. Once that person is accepted as a full member, a consensus is required for the community to require that person to leave. Members of Acorn are involved in various community service activities. These include Plant a Row (which grows food for local food pantries serving local disadvantaged persons) and Food Not Bombs . The community also supports members who wish to pursue activism, especially as it relates to food safety and blocking

3306-466: The A16 Washington D.C. protests in 2000 , affinity groups disputed their spokescouncil's imposition of nonviolence in their action guidelines. They received the reprieve of letting groups self-organize their protests, and as the city's protest was subsequently divided into pie slices, each blockaded by an affinity group's choice of protest. Many of the participants learned about the spokescouncil model on

3393-589: The Civil rights , Peace and Women's movements in the USA during counterculture of the 1960s . The practice gained popularity in the 1970s through the anti-nuclear movement, and peaked in popularity in the early 1980s. Consensus spread abroad through the anti-globalization and climate movements, and has become normalized in anti-authoritarian spheres in conjunction with affinity groups and ideas of participatory democracy and prefigurative politics . The Movement for

3480-613: The Clamshell Alliance , adopted consensus for their organization. Consensus was used in the 1999 Seattle WTO protests , which inspired the S11 (World Economic Forum protest) in 2000 to do so too. Consensus was used at the first Camp for Climate Action (2006) and subsequent camps. Occupy Wall Street (2011) made use of consensus in combination with techniques such as the people's microphone and hand signals . Characteristics of consensus decision-making include: Consensus decision-making

3567-609: The Dayton Project , and later Mound Laboratories , and assisted in the development of the first nuclear weapons . In 1946, Monsanto developed and marketed "All" laundry detergent, which it sold to Lever Brothers in 1957. In 1947, its styrene factory was destroyed in the Texas City Disaster . In 1949, Monsanto acquired American Viscose Corporation from Courtaulds . In 1954, Monsanto partnered with German chemical giant Bayer to form Mobay and market polyurethanes in

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3654-759: The Highlander Folk School . However, as the SNCC faced growing internal and external pressure toward the mid-1960s, it developed into a more hierarchical structure, eventually abandoning consensus. Women Strike for Peace (WSP) are also accounted as independently used consensus from their founding in 1961. Eleanor Garst (herself influenced by Quakers) introduced the practice as part of the loose and participatory structure of WSP. As consensus grew in popularity, it became less clear who influenced who. Food Not Bombs , which started in 1980 in connection with an occupation of Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant organized by

3741-875: The Monsanto process for making acetic acid , which until 2000 was the most widely used production method. In 1964, Monsanto chemists invented AstroTurf (initially ChemGrass). In the 1960s and 1970s, Monsanto was a producer of Agent Orange for United States Armed Forces operations in Vietnam , and settled out of court in a lawsuit brought by veterans in 1984. In 1968, it became the first company to start mass production of (visible) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), using gallium arsenide phosphide . From 1968 to 1970, sales doubled every few months. Their products (discrete LEDs and seven-segment numeric displays) became industry standards. The primary markets then were electronic calculators , digital watches and digital clocks. Monsanto became

3828-454: The artificial sweetener saccharin , caffeine and vanillin . Monsanto expanded to Europe in 1919 in a partnership with Graesser's Chemical Works at Cefn Mawr , Wales. The venture produced vanillin, aspirin and its raw ingredient salicylic acid , and later rubber processing chemicals. In the 1920s, Monsanto expanded into basic industrial chemicals such as sulfuric acid and PCBs . Queeny's son Edgar Monsanto Queeny took over

3915-565: The maize seed business when it purchased 40% of Dekalb in 1996; it purchased the remainder of the corporation in 1998. In 1997, the company first published an annual report citing Monsanto's Law, a biotechnological take on Moore's Law , indicating its future directions and exponential growth in the use of biotechnology. In the same year, Californian GMO company Calgene was acquired. In 1998, Monsanto purchased Cargill 's international seed business, which gave it access to sales and distribution facilities in 51 countries. In 2005, it finalized

4002-428: The spokescouncil model, affinity groups make joint decisions by each designating a speaker and sitting behind that circle of spokespeople, akin to the spokes of a wheel. While speaking rights might be limited to each group's designee, the meeting may allot breakout time for the constituent groups to discuss an issue and return to the circle via their spokesperson. In the case of an activist spokescouncil preparing for

4089-629: The "new" Pharmacia; Monsanto's medical research division, which included products such as Celebrex. PL Laboratories LKB-produkter AB (Acq 1968) Kabi Vitrum (Acq 1990) Farmitalia (Acq 1993) Upjohn (Merged 1995) Monsanto (Est 1901) Swann Chemical Company (Acq 1935) Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories (Acq 1936) American Viscose (Acq 1949) G. D. Searle & Company (Acq 1985) Agracetus (Acq 1996) DeKalb Genetics Corporation (Acq 1998) Cargill (Seed div, Acq 1998) In 2000, Pharmacia spun off its agro-biotech subsidiary into

4176-600: The 17th century. Anabaptists , including some Mennonites , have a history of using consensus decision-making and some believe Anabaptists practiced consensus as early as the Martyrs' Synod of 1527. Some Christians trace consensus decision-making back to the Bible. The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia references, in particular, Acts 15 as an example of consensus in the New Testament. The lack of legitimate consensus process in

4263-407: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Celebrex became a blockbuster drug and was often mentioned as a key reason for Pfizer 's acquisition of Monsanto's pharmaceutical business in 2002. In 1994, Monsanto introduced a recombinant version of bovine somatotropin , brand-named Posilac. Monsanto later sold this business to Eli Lilly and Company . In 1996, Monsanto purchased Agracetus ,

4350-479: The United States. Monsanto began manufacturing DDT in 1944, along with some 15 other companies. This insecticide was used to kill malaria -transmitting mosquitoes, but it was banned in the United States in 1972 due to its harmful environmental impacts. In 1977, Monsanto stopped producing PCBs; Congress banned PCB production two years later. In the mid‑1960s, William Standish Knowles and his team invented

4437-555: The beginning as a non-religious adaptation of the Quaker decision-making they were used to. MNS trained the anti-nuclear Clamshell Alliance (1976) and Abalone Alliance (1977) to use consensus, and in 1977 published Resource Manual for a Living Revolution , which included a section on consensus. An earlier account of consensus decision-making comes from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC),

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4524-399: The biotechnology company that had generated the first transgenic cotton, soybeans, peanuts and other crops, and from which Monsanto had been licensing technology since 1991. In 1997, Monsanto divested Solutia , a company created to carry off the responsibility for Monsanto's PCB business and associated liabilities, along with some related organic chemical production. Monsanto first entered

4611-477: The board of directors is sought for any decision. A ringi-sho is a circulation document used to obtain agreement. It must first be signed by the lowest level manager, and then upwards, and may need to be revised and the process started over. In the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), decisions are assumed to be taken by rough consensus . The IETF has studiously refrained from defining

4698-456: The business of producing PCBs . In 1936, Monsanto acquired Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories in Dayton, Ohio , to acquire the expertise of Charles Allen Thomas and Carroll A. Hochwalt. The acquisition became Monsanto's Central Research Department. Thomas spent the rest of his career at Monsanto, serving as President (1951–1960) and Board Chair (1960–1965). He retired in 1970. In 1943, Thomas

4785-499: The citizens to divergent views about how to direct and use the organized political power of the community, in order to promote and protect common interests. If political representatives reflect this diversity, then there will be as much disagreement in the legislature as there is in the population. To ensure the agreement or consent of all participants is valued, many groups choose unanimity or near-unanimity as their decision rule. Groups that require unanimity allow individual participants

4872-632: The company in 1928. In 1926 the company founded and incorporated a town called Monsanto in Illinois (now known as Sauget ). It was formed to provide minimal regulation and low taxes for Monsanto plants at a time when local jurisdictions had most of the responsibility for environmental rules. It was renamed in honor of Leo Sauget, its first village president. In 1935, Monsanto bought the Swann Chemical Company in Anniston, Alabama , and thereby entered

4959-405: The construction of a new building began as a source of new space for the seed farm. The building has a significant number of environmentally friendly features which include low-impact building materials, significant southern exposure, passive ventilation for cooling, timber-frame construction technique, and desiccant air conditioning for maintaining stored seed temperatures. The estimated completion

5046-462: The debate. When all agree, the chair calls for a preferential vote, as per the rules for a Modified Borda Count. The referees decide which option, or which composite of the two leading options, is the outcome. If its level of support surpasses a minimum consensus coefficient, it may be adopted. Groups that require unanimity commonly use a core set of procedures depicted in this flow chart. Once an agenda for discussion has been set and, optionally,

5133-508: The decision. Members of a minority position may feel less commitment to a majority decision, and even majority voters who may have taken their positions along party or bloc lines may have a sense of reduced responsibility for the ultimate decision. The result of this reduced commitment, according to many consensus proponents, is potentially less willingness to defend or act upon the decision. Majority voting cannot measure consensus. Indeed,—so many 'for' and so many 'against'—it measures

5220-512: The facilitator calling for proposals. Every proposed option is accepted if the referees decide it is relevant and conforms with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . The referees produce and display a list of these options. The debate proceeds, with queries, comments, criticisms and/or even new options. If the debate fails to come to a verbal consensus, the referees draw up a final list of options - usually between 4 and 6 - to represent

5307-453: The first for which Harvard allowed its faculty to submit patent application . Monsanto scientists were among the first to genetically modify a plant cell, publishing their results in 1983. Five years later the company conducted the first field tests of genetically modified crops . Increasing involvement in agricultural biotechnology dates from the installment of Richard Mahoney as Monsanto's CEO in 1983. This involvement increased under

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5394-469: The fly by participating in it directly, and came to better understand their planned action by hearing others' concerns and voicing their own. In Designing an All-Inclusive Democracy (2007), Emerson proposes a consensus oriented approach based on the Modified Borda Count (MBC) voting method. The group first elects, say, three referees or consensors. The debate on the chosen problem is initiated by

5481-406: The formation of competing factions. These dynamics may harm group member relationships and undermine the ability of a group to cooperatively implement a contentious decision. Consensus decision-making attempts to address the beliefs of such problems. Proponents claim that outcomes of the consensus process include: Consensus is not synonymous with unanimity – though that may be a rule agreed to in

5568-517: The goal of achieving broad acceptance, defined by its terms as form of consensus . The focus on establishing agreement of at least the majority or the supermajority and avoiding unproductive opinion differentiates consensus from unanimity , which requires all participants to support a decision. Consensus decision-making in a democracy is consensus democracy . The word consensus is Latin meaning "agreement, accord", derived from consentire meaning "feel together". A noun, consensus can represent

5655-414: The ground rules for the meeting have been agreed upon, each item of the agenda is addressed in turn. Typically, each decision arising from an agenda item follows through a simple structure: Quaker -based consensus is said to be effective because it puts in place a simple, time-tested structure that moves a group towards unity. The Quaker model is intended to allow hearing individual voices while providing

5742-463: The group members in order to build the experience and skills of the participants, and prevent any perceived concentration of power. The common roles in a consensus meeting are: Critics of consensus blocking often observe that the option, while potentially effective for small groups of motivated or trained individuals with a sufficiently high degree of affinity , has a number of possible shortcomings, notably Consensus seeks to improve solidarity in

5829-439: The leadership of Robert Shapiro , appointed CEO in 1995, leading ultimately to the disposition of product lines unrelated to agriculture. In 1985, Monsanto acquired G.D. Searle & Company , a life sciences company that focused on pharmaceuticals, agriculture and animal health. In 1993, its Searle division filed a patent application for Celebrex , which in 1998 became the first selective COX‑2 inhibitor to be approved by

5916-470: The long run. Accordingly, it should not be confused with unanimity in the immediate situation, which is often a symptom of groupthink . Studies of effective consensus process usually indicate a shunning of unanimity or "illusion of unanimity" that does not hold up as a group comes under real-world pressure (when dissent reappears). Cory Doctorow , Ralph Nader and other proponents of deliberative democracy or judicial-like methods view explicit dissent as

6003-736: The longer term. In June 2007, Monsanto purchased Delta and Pine Land Company , a major cotton seed breeder, for $ 1.5 billion. As a condition for approval from the Department of Justice , Monsanto was obligated to divest its Stoneville cotton business, which it sold to Bayer , and to divest its NexGen cotton business, which it sold to Americot . Monsanto also exited the pig-breeding business by selling Monsanto Choice Genetics to Newsham Genetics LC in November, divesting itself of "any and all swine-related patents, patent applications, and all other intellectual property". In 2007, Monsanto and BASF announced

6090-483: The main student organization of the civil rights movement , founded in 1960. Early SNCC member Mary King , later reflected: "we tried to make all decisions by consensus ... it meant discussing a matter and reformulating it until no objections remained". This way of working was brought to the SNCC at its formation by the Nashville student group , who had received nonviolence training from James Lawson and Myles Horton at

6177-412: The necessary work tasks based on the varying needs of the business as well as the abilities and inclinations of the participants. Being non-hierarchical, there are no bosses, owners, investors, managers, or supervisors to direct the work. Therefore, work occurs with minimal supervision. Priorities are identified, and results are achieved, by the input of those participants who have the most insight into what

6264-459: The needs and goals of the community, as well as engaging in group and individual conversations, members identify and decide on relevant tasks that need to be accomplished. Individuals then step forward to take on the responsibility of accomplishing the work in a timely fashion. Acorn, with 82 other farmers and seed businesses, preemptively sued Monsanto Corporation to protect themselves from predatory lawsuits for GMO patent infringement. This suit

6351-435: The option of blocking a group decision. This provision motivates a group to make sure that all group members consent to any new proposal before it is adopted. When there is potential for a block to a group decision, both the group and dissenters in the group are encouraged to collaborate until agreement can be reached. Simply vetoing a decision is not considered a responsible use of consensus blocking. Some common guidelines for

6438-443: The possibility of compromise or other mutually beneficial solutions. Carlos Santiago Nino, on the other hand, has argued that majority rule leads to better deliberation practice than the alternatives, because it requires each member of the group to make arguments that appeal to at least half the participants. Some advocates of consensus would assert that a majority decision reduces the commitment of each individual decision-maker to

6525-557: The prevalence of dissent, without making it easy to slip into majority rule . Much of the business of the IETF is carried out on mailing lists , where all parties can speak their views at all times. Monsanto The Monsanto Company ( / m ɒ n ˈ s æ n t oʊ / ) was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri . Monsanto's best-known product

6612-464: The process run more effectively. Although the name and nature of these roles varies from group to group, the most common are the facilitator , consensor , a timekeeper, an empath and a secretary or notes taker. Not all decision-making bodies use all of these roles, although the facilitator position is almost always filled, and some groups use supplementary roles, such as a Devil's advocate or greeter. Some decision-making bodies rotate these roles through

6699-406: The purchase of Seminis Inc , a leading global vegetable and fruit seed company, for $ 1.4 billion. This made it the world's largest conventional seed company. In 1999, Monsanto sold off NutraSweet Co. In December of the same year, Monsanto agreed to merge with Pharmacia & Upjohn , in a deal valuing the transaction at $ 27 billion. The agricultural division became a wholly owned subsidiary of

6786-506: The same way. Since unanimity of this kind rarely occurs in groups with more than one member, groups that try to use this kind of process usually end up being either extremely frustrated or coercive. Decisions are never made (leading to the demise of the group), they are made covertly, or some group or individual dominates the rest. Sometimes a majority dominates, sometimes a minority, sometimes an individual who employs "the Block." But no matter how it

6873-681: The spread of GMOs including the March Against Monsanto . Acorn has a minimum work quota of 42 hours a week, which all adult members are expected to meet. This is the minimum amount of work deemed acceptable, with most members working well over this amount. All work done by members is equally creditable. Almost anything that needs to be done is considered work. This includes traditionally recognized work such as office work, maintenance, and farming. However, less traditionally recognized work such as childcare , cooking , cleaning , and preparing for communal parties are equally labor creditable. As

6960-454: The unanimous conviction of Jesus by corrupt priests in an illegally held Sanhedrin court (which had rules preventing unanimous conviction in a hurried process) strongly influenced the views of pacifist Protestants, including the Anabaptists (Mennonites/Amish), Quakers and Shakers. In particular it influenced their distrust of expert-led courtrooms and to "be clear about process" and convene in

7047-409: The use of consensus blocking include: A participant who does not support a proposal may have alternatives to simply blocking it. Some common options may include the ability to: The basic model for achieving consensus as defined by any decision rule involves: All attempts at achieving consensus begin with a good faith attempt at generating full-agreement, regardless of decision rule threshold. In

7134-453: The very opposite, the degree of dissent. The Modified Borda Count has been put forward as a voting method which better approximates consensus. Some formal models based on graph theory attempt to explore the implications of suppressed dissent and subsequent sabotage of the group as it takes action. High-stakes decision-making, such as judicial decisions of appeals courts, always require some such explicit documentation. Consent however

7221-814: Was called to a meeting in Washington, D.C., with Leslie Groves , commander of the Manhattan Project , and James Conant , president of Harvard University and chairman of the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC). They urged Thomas to become co-director of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos with Robert Oppenheimer , but Thomas was reluctant to leave Dayton and Monsanto. He joined the NDRC, and Monsanto's Central Research Department began to conduct related research. To that end, Monsanto operated

7308-504: Was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, as a chemical company . The founder was John Francis Queeny , who, at age 42, was a 30‑year veteran of the nascent pharmaceutical industry. He funded the firm with his own money and capital from a soft drink distributor. He used for the company name the maiden name of his wife, Olga Méndez Monsanto, who was a scioness of the Monsanto family . The company's first products were commodity food additives, such as

7395-507: Was no longer used, but Monsanto's previous product brand names were maintained. In June 2020, Bayer agreed to pay numerous settlements in lawsuits involving ex-Monsanto products Roundup , PCBs and Dicamba . Owing to the massive financial and reputational blows caused by ongoing litigation concerning Monsanto's herbicide Roundup, the Bayer-Monsanto merger is considered one of the worst corporate mergers in history. In 1901, Monsanto

7482-587: Was one of the top-ten U.S. chemical companies until it divested most of its chemical businesses between 1997 and 2002, through a process of mergers and spin-offs that focused the company on biotechnology . Monsanto was one of the first companies to apply the biotechnology industry business model to agriculture, using techniques developed by biotech drug companies. In this business model, companies recoup R&D expenses by exploiting biological patents . Monsanto's roles in agricultural changes, biotechnology products, lobbying of government agencies, and roots as

7569-536: Was the third-largest U.S. cotton seed company, with about 12% of the U.S. market. Monsanto's goal was to obtain "a strategic cotton germplasm and traits platform". Also in 2005, Monsanto purchased Seminis , the California-based world leader in vegetable seed production, for $ 1.4 billion. Seminis developed new vegetable varieties using advanced cross-pollination methods. Monsanto indicated that Seminis would continue with non-GM development, while not ruling out GM in

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