Persistence in Paradox

Many scholars accept persistence as a core characteristic of paradox, but why paradoxes persist is a question that has been left underexplored. The chapter first situates persistence in the conceptual evolution of paradox; second, it explores why persistence is inherent to paradox as a consequence of push-pulls between synergies and tradeoffs; and third, borrowing from Benson’s (1977) dialectical frame, it discusses how persistence operates. Overall, the chapter contributes to explaining why persistence, not resolution, is integral to a process view of paradox. To appreciate paradox is to assume that tradeoffs can become synergies and that synergies can untap tradeoffs, only before they rotate their order, in a circular movement with no end in sight. The appreciation of paradox entails an acquired taste for infinity.