1st Edition
The Ecosystem of Group Relations Culture, Gender and Identity in Groups and Organizations
The unconscious dynamics that surface in groups when authority is exercised are of paramount importance in Group Relations Conferences; this volume addresses these considerations through research findings and speculation on the future of Group Relations both within conferences and outside of them.
This is the sixth instalment in a series of books based on Tavistock Group Relations Conferences and contains a collection of papers presented at the sixth Belgirate conference. Combining chapters on theory and practice, this volume delivers a meditation on the relationships between the physical spaces we inhabit or co-create, the psychic, inner or spiritual space and the liminal space in-between. Group Relations provides a window of understanding into why inequity and intergroup hostilities pervade the modern world alongside a method that illuminates how people consciously and unconsciously contribute to these tensions, whether personally, in groups or in organisations.
This will be an invaluable resource for practitioners, academics, and scholars of Group Relations, as well as managers and organisational members wanting to learn more about how Group Relations methods can contribute to their organisational success.
Introduction
Coreene Archer, Rachel Kelly, Gordon Strauss and Joseph Triest
Foreword
Susan Long
Section 1: The Psychoanalytic – Systemic Approach
1. Unbounded Worlds – A Challenge for Group Relations?
Shmuel Erlich
2. The Place Where Psychoanalysts Live: Introducing Group Relations to Psychoanalytic Institutes
John Lundgren
3. Nothingness: A group phenomenon or a Seventh Basic Assumption. Does it really matter? Does anything matter at all?
Daphna Bahat
Section 2: Social, Political and Spiritual Issues in Group Relations
4. Transforming the world, Transforming Ourselves: the place for activism and spirituality in group relations
Rosemary Viswanath
5. A Call to Consciousness on the Unknown Known of Dominance: Basic Assumption Authority and Basic Assumption Identity Behavior in Group Relations Conferences
Zachary Green and René Molenkamp
6. A Nomadic State of Mind: In search for a place to live
Coreene Archer
7. Co-Constructing a Society that Promotes Life: An Exploration of the Unconscious Dynamics in Radicalisation Processes
Joan Roma, Sandra Carrau, David Sierra and Jaume Benavent
8. In the Shadow of Envy: Shame in Group Relations Conferences
Ellen L Short, PhD and Janice K Wagner, LICSW
Section 3: Issues of Practice and Methodology in Group Relations
9. Polyglossia or Babel? An Exploration of Authority, Innovation, and Identity in Group Relations Conferences
Diane Forbes Berthoud, Patricia Kummel, Janice Wagner, Schmuel Erlich, and Jack Marmorstein
10. Exploring Difference – A Group Relations Adaptation
Fabio D’Apice, John Wilkes and Barbara Williams
11. At Home at Work and Vice Versa: Exploring the Dynamics of Dual/Special Relationships in Group Relations Conferences and Organisational Life
Katherine M Zwick and Seth B Harkins
12. LFA as a Learning Community: Experiencing Living and Learning in the Conference Space and Territory
Luca Mingarelli, Giada Boldetti, Simona Masnata & Gilad Ovadia
Section 4: Post-Meeting Reflections
13. "The father is a little bit crazy and the mother doesn't serve enough nourishing food": Political Correctness in Group Relations
Yermi Harel
14. A Home for the Soul: Reflections on Belgirate VI
Sivanie Shiran
Biography
Coreene Archer is a Principal Consultant and Executive Coach at the Tavistock Institute. Coreene’s interest lies in the study of leadership and identity. Her works have expanded Group Relations ideas to include work with emergent young leaders. Coreene teaches a number of programmes and her work has expanded Group Relations ideas to include work with young and emergent leaders.
Rachel Kelly is a Principal, Engagement/PR lead, and Group Relations Consultant and at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations. She explores relatedness between the unconscious and consciousness and journeys into the psychophysical by exploring concepts such as embodiment, sensation, and imagination.
Gordon Strauss is a Psychiatrist who has practiced and taught Group Relations for over 40 years. He is a Fellow and Board member of the A. K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems.
Joseph Triest is a Training Psychoanalyst (IPS; IPA), Clinical Psychologist and Organisational Consultant. He is the head of the “Freud and Followers Root” at the Tel-Aviv University Psychotherapy Program and past President of the Israel Psychoanalytic Society.
'For some years now, Belgirate has been the place to gather for the most innovative thinking in the area of group relations. Based on a highly engaging conference at Belgirate, this volume brings together some of the foremost innovators and thinkers in the field. It makes for fascinating reading, and I whole-heartedly recommend it.'
Mark Stein, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Leadership and Management, University of Leicester and Associate Lecturer in Consultation and Organisation, Tavistock Clinic London, UK
'This book serves as a transitional space ship, for exploring new territories of Group Relations life, thinking and methodology. Various aspects of (the relationship between) outer physical and inner psychic worlds are being studied thoughtful and reflective. The crew skillfully guides you in crossing several boundaries, (re)visiting conceptual planets, shows comets of practice, bright stars of experience and also leaves enough black holes to grapple with yourself. Fasten your seatbelts for this inspiring flight.'
Martijn van der Spek, Senior Organisational Consultant and Program Leader Inside Dynamics in Organisations, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
