ABSTRACT

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.

part Section 1|44 pages

The Psychoanalytic – Systemic Approach

chapter Chapter 1|12 pages

Unbounded Worlds

A Challenge for Group Relations? 1

chapter Chapter 2|17 pages

The Place Where Psychoanalysts Live

Introducing Group Relations to Psychoanalytic Institutes

chapter Chapter 3|13 pages

Nothingness a Group Phenomenon or a Seventh Basic Assumption

Does It Really Matter? Does Anything Matter at All? 1

part Section 2|64 pages

Social, Political and Spiritual Issues in Group Relations

chapter Chapter 4|13 pages

Unbounded Worlds

A Challenge for Group Relations

chapter Chapter 5|16 pages

A Call to Consciousness on the Unknown Known of Dominance

Basic Assumption Authority and Basic Assumption Identity Behavior in Group Relations Conferences

chapter Chapter 6|7 pages

A Nomadic State of Mind

In Search for a Place to Live

chapter Chapter 7|12 pages

Co-Constructing a Society That Promotes Life

An Exploration of the Unconscious Dynamics in Radicalisation Processes

chapter Chapter 8|14 pages

In the Shadow of Envy

Shame in Group Relations Conferences

part Section 3|66 pages

Issues of Practice and Methodology in Group Relations

chapter Chapter 9|16 pages

Polyglossia or Babel?

An Exploration of Authority, Innovation, and Identity in Group Relations Conferences

chapter Chapter 10|12 pages

Exploring Difference

A Group Relations Adaptation

chapter Chapter 11|22 pages

At Home at Work and Vice Versa

Exploring the Dynamics of Dual/Special Relationships in Group Relations Conferences and Organisational Life

chapter Chapter 12|14 pages

LFA as a Learning Community

Experiencing Living and Learning in the Conference Space and Territory

part Section 4|19 pages

Post-Meeting Reflections

chapter Chapter 13|9 pages

“The Father Is a Little Bit Crazy and the Mother Doesn't Serve Enough Nourishing Food”

Political Correctness in Group Relations

chapter Chapter 14|8 pages

A Home for the Soul

Reflections on Belgirate VI