Group Relations Reader

This book presents a sort of angsty identity crisis and offers many clear illustrations of the multiple useful and relevant applications of group relations in different parts of the world, reflecting on the theory of group relations and its relevance to contemporary phenomena.

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.

Organized into six practical sections relating theory to application from an historical perspective, this text offers contributions from international scholars and practitioners who reflect the diversity of this field.

This book is a compilation of chapters based on presentations at the third Group Relations (GR) international meeting in Belgirate, Italy in November 2009, plus a number of pieces from participants reflecting on their experience of the meeting. The book takes yet another step in continuing the discourse, which began in 2003, articulating the relevance of the GR conference method and the timeliness of its application globally. The chapters in the book deal with the personal as well as the organisational journeys of GR practitioners and examine these through the lens of tradition, succession and creative application. The authors are experienced Group Relations practitioners internationally and together they enrich further the tapestry of GR model and its application and potential.