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The story, for some time, has been leaking on to the road; along the downriver reaches, the dirty bits, into the estuary. Quickfit estates, grown overnight like dragon's teeth, have seeded brownfield sites. "Thames Gateway", they call it, the politicians and explainers. Reclamation, regeneration, re-vival: with helicopter rides, photo opportunities and men in bright yellow hardhats and fancy suits pulling on their wellies to wade across the latest toxic paddock.

That's now the lovely A13, Aldgate Pump to the beach, the barracks, the development potential of Shoeburyness: a surrealist carousel of snowless alps, brown rivers, cemeteries, pylon forests and wild skies. Trashed history and deflated boosterism made over into an already exhausted future. "Recent history", they boast on the signboards along the Northern Sewage Outfall. A nice oxymoron leading pilgrims to the notable (but locked) church of St Mary Magdalene at East Ham, with its medieval wall painting (now being restored) and its view of Beckton Alp.

Beckton Alp, heaped on the rubble of the old gas works, is the battleground where Stanley Kubrick restaged the Vietnam war for Full Metal Jacket. (Palm trees, imported from Spain, choked in dead earth.) The mound, so they say, is pure arsenic. They have stripped away the rubber waffle-texture carpet down which risk-takers used to ski, leaving the blunt alp like a stepped pyramid with a fabulous 360 panorama of London: glittering towers of Docklands, sewage outfall, Upton Park - and, away to the east, the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and the fabulous M25.

That was my book, my longterm obsession (the A13 a mere tributary). I had to walk around London's orbital motorway; not on it, but within what the Highways Agency calls the "acoustic footprints". The soundstream. Road has replaced river. The M25 does the job of the weary Thames, shifting contraband, legal and illegal cargoes, offering a picturesque backdrop to piracy of every stamp.

The opening of the M25 in October 1986 (Margaret Thatch-er's dome moment) signalled the end of London and its liberties. We were now a traffic island. The pollution was visible from space; we would be living under a skin of bad gas, an anti-Eden project. Walking the road, anti-clockwise, let me in on all the secrets: the vanishing hospitals, the asylums that became gated estates, military and pharmaceutical bunkers, the ever-expanding airport runways, CCTV cameras, John Wyndham villages and "severed" communities.

The best guides to the territory, in the days before JG Ballard perched in Shepperton, were to be found among the more imaginative late-Victorian authors: HG Wells at the southwest corner with The War of the Worlds, and Bram Stoker, who placed Dracula's abbey at Purfleet, where the QEII Bridge comes to rest among oil storage tanks. Count Dracula was the forerunner of contemporary real estate speculators: the first one to buy into Thames Gateway. The count anticipated Thatcher's boys-in-braces, Blair's quangos. Buy toxic, buy cheap: madhouses, old chapels, decaying abbeys. Then make your play: storage and distribution. "All that die from the preying of the Un-dead become themselves Un-dead and prey on their own kind," wrote Stoker. "And so the circle goes on ever widening, like ripples from a stone thrown in water."

The M25 is a circle that goes nowhere (except Bluewater and the other shopping-city chalk quarries). A voyage into reverie, narcolepsy, murder (road-rage stabbing at Swanley interchange), drug deals, madness. A road that connects the rock star (later Russian mafia) dormitories of Weybridge with overspill Essex, wide boys, casualties of industry, displaced artists. A walk that becomes a Bunyanesque pilgrimage, a way of reimagining London from its scattered ruins. A grungy hike sustained by greasy-spoon breakfasts, epic skies over the estuary, epiphanies achieved in a fugue of diesel-exhaustion: 120 long miles - if you stick to the road. Much more if you detour through the former asylums of Epsom, the shaved golf courses of Kent, the private estates on St George's Hill, Weybridge.

London Orbital, I discovered, was a book that wrote itself: I listened to the voices, looked at the photographs, relished the condition of elective vagrancy, the company of fellow walkers. Here was a narrative with a proper conclusion, a story that folded back to its beginning: an afternoon drinking on the Isle of Dogs, watching the laboured preparations for the big night, millennium eve, the opening of the dome. And the dawning of a new age of mendacity and doublespeak, in which the poor old M25 would look like an oversize coprolite, the posthumous dream of urban utopians; a highway born 50 years too late had arrived just in time to welcome the coming era of gridlock and real-time TV. A period when walkers would overtake motor-ists, trapped in their pods, glued to cell phones, staring, without seeing, at an unmoving landscape.

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Iain Sinclair on walking round London's M25

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Walking round London's M25 became a Bunyanesque pilgrimage for Iain Sinclair

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The 'A-Z London Street Atlas' is the most popular map of any kind in Britain, selling over 200,000 copies a year.

In the Spring of 2003 I was enjoying a picnic somewhere to the west of London. Leafing idly through my own A-Z, I noticed the stream in front of me ran along the very edge of the atlas and the field beyond was off the page altogether.

The coverage of the map changes with each new edition. Someone somewhere decides, year by year, where it should end; which parts of the periphery of London should be included, and which should not. This project is about the unfortunate places that fall just off the edge.

A touring exhibition, A System of Edges, included one photograph from each of the fifty-six pages meeting the edge. An edit of just twenty-six of these finally became the book 26 Different Endings.

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The 'A-Z London Street Atlas' is the most popular map of any kind in Britain, selling over 200,000 copies a year. In the Spring of 2003 I was enjoying a picnic somewhere to the west of London.

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A Field Guide to Getting Lost is an investigation into loss, losing and being lost. Taking in subjects as eclectic as memory and mapmaking, Hitchcock movies and Renaissance painting, Rebecca Solnit explores the challenges of living with uncertainty. Beautifully written, this book combines memoir, history and philosophy, shedding glittering new light on the way we live now.

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A Field Guide to Getting Lost is an investigation into loss, losing and being lost. Taking in subjects as eclectic as memory and mapmaking, Hitchcock movies and Renaissance painting, Rebecca Solnit explores the challenges of living with uncertainty. Beautifully written, this book combines memoir, history and philosophy, shedding glittering new light on the way we live now.

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Drawing together many histories-of anatomical evolution and city design, of treadmills and labyrinths, of walking clubs and sexual mores-Rebecca Solnit creates a fascinating portrait of the range of possibilities presented by walking. Arguing that the history of walking includes walking for pleasure as well as for political, aesthetic, and social meaning, Solnit focuses on the walkers whose everyday and extreme acts have shaped our culture, from philosophers to poets to mountaineers. She profiles some of the most significant walkers in history and fiction-from Wordsworth to Gary Snyder, from Jane Austen's Elizabeth Bennet to Andre Breton's Nadja-finding a profound relationship between walking and thinking and walking and culture. Solnit argues for the necessity of preserving the time and space in which to walk in our ever more car-dependent and accelerated world.

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12/2/21 pm

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New Red Order - Penny W. Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series | Penny W. Stamps School of Art 

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New Red Order

Never Settle

The New Red Order (NRO) is a mutable collective, a "public secret society," facilitated by three core contributors - brothers Zack and Adam Khalil, who are Ojibway and grew up in northern Michigan, and Jackson Polys, who is Tlingit from Alaska. The collective creates video and performance works that question the desire for indigeneity in dominant culture. Working with an interdisciplinary network of informants, the NRO co-produces video, performance, and installation works that confront settler colonial tendencies and obstacles to Indigenous growth and agency. Their individual and collaborative work has been presented at the Alaska State Museum, Anchorage Museum, Berlinale, LACMA, Museum of Modern Art, Sundance Film Festival, Tate Modern, Toronto Biennial of Art, Walker Art Center, and Whitney Biennial 2019.

This speaker series event includes the screening of two films presented by the artists.

Never Settle: Calling In is a short recruitment video for New Red Order, a public-secret society that simultaneously satirizes and sincerely engages with efforts for solidarity and the desire for Indigenous epistemologies. Delving into the stakes of accompliceship, the video examines dynamic conditions in which the concerns of Indigenous people can be treated as a topic du jour, then co-opted. This video is part of an ambitious, multi-part project that includes a public recruitment campaign and participatory installations that invite prospective recruits to undergo an initiation. Playing with the notion of headhunting, NRO seeks to enlist candidates in their public secret-society, thereby investigating shame and the desire for indigeneity. Never Settle poses the question of how to channel what might be seen as inappropriate urges to merge with indigeneity into paths for the expansion of Indigenous growth and agency.

Adam and Zack Khalil's debut film INAATE/SE/ [it shines a certain way. to a certain place/it flies. falls./] re-imagines an Anishinaabe story, the Seven Fires Prophecy, which both predates and predicts first contact with Europeans. A kaleidoscopic experience blending documentary, narrative, and experimental forms, INAATE/SE/ explores how the prophecy resonates through the generations in their indigenous community on the Michigan/Canadian border. With acute geographic specificity, and grand historical scope, the film fixes its lens between the sacred and the profane to pry open the construction of contemporary indigenous identity.

Supported by the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) and the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Our 2020-2021 Series is brought to you with the support of our partners, Detroit Public Television and PBS Books.

Notice of uncensored content: In accordance with the University of Michigan's Standard Practice Guidelines on "Freedom of Speech and Artistic Expression," the Penny Stamps Speaker Series does not censor our speakers or their content. The content provided is intended for adult audiences and does not reflect the views of the University of Michigan or Detroit Public Television.

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New Red Order - Penny W. Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series

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Never Settle The New Red Order (NRO) is a mutable collective, a "public secret society," facilitated by three core contributors - brothers Zack and Adam Khalil, who are Ojibway and grew up in northern Michigan, and Jackson Polys, who is Tlingit from Alaska.

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31/1/21

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2/2/21

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4/2/21

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8/2/21

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Plethu / Weave: Wales in Germany - Aber Bach by Mererid Hopwood and Elena Sgarbi

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How to Create a Storybook Page Turn Transition in Adobe Premiere Pro CC (2018)

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Psychological realisation of Derive- 'memory box' ( of the walks) could also be used as a device for collating our project for presentation? Could be collaborative design of the box shape with exterior collaborative images?

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28/1/21

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To wander around at a leisurely pace. Filters

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Fernand Deligny

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FERNAND DELIGNY found many ways of describing himself: primordial communist, nonviolent guerrilla, weaver of networks, cartographer of wandering lines. A visionary but marginalized figure often associated with the alternative and anti-psychiatry movements that emerged in the decades after World War II, Deligny (1913-1996) remains difficult to categorize - an enigmatic sage. Beginning in the 1950s, Deligny conducted a series of collectively run residential programs - he called them "attempts" (or tentatives, in French) - for children and adolescents with autism and other disabilities who would have otherwise spent their lives institutionalized in state-run psychiatric asylums. After settling outside of Monoblet in the shadow of the Cévennes Mountains in southern France, Deligny and his collaborators developed novel methods for living and working with young people determined to be "outside of speech" ( hors de parole).

Militantly opposed to institutions of every kind - he occasionally referred to his small group as living like a band of nonlethal guerillas - Deligny was critical of the dominant psychiatric, psychoanalytic, and positivist educational doctrines of the time. He rejected the view that autism and cognitive disability were pathological deviations from a preexisting norm. He did not try to force the mostly nonspeaking autistics who came to live with them to conform to standards of speech. Instead, Deligny and his collaborators were "in search of a mode of being that allowed them to exist even if that meant changing our own mode." They sought to develop "a practice that would exclude from the outset interpretations referring to some code" - anticipating, by several decades, some of the central tenets of the neurodiversity and autistic self-advocacy movements: "We did not take the children's ways of being as scrambled, coded messages addressed to us."

Despite the extensive body of writing published during his lifetime, Deligny's contributions were largely ignored for several decades. (His posthumous obscurity has been, in part, of his own making: he increasingly withdrew from established channels of intellectual production and public exchange in his later years.) The 2007 French publication of Deligny's selected Oeuvres sparked renewed scholarly interest in his ideas within a variety of academic disciplines, but these conversations tended to be confined to academic specialists. Now, with the release this year of The Arachnean and Other Texts, a translation of 16 short essays dating from the late 1970s, the small but industrious Univocal press has offered a wider English-language readership the chance to encounter Deligny's strange and affecting work for the first time.

Translated by Drew Burk and Catherine Porter, The Arachnean and Other Texts is not an easy read. Deligny's prose is elliptical, fragmentary, and often mystifying. His writerly voice is hard to locate genre-wise, skirting between philosophy and poetry, anthropological observation and quasi-prophetic (if emphatically secular) aphorism. Deligny seems to have approached the practice of writing with the same spirit of open-ended, improvisatory experimentation that characterized his various attempts at radically anti-institutional communal living. Conducting research at his archives in France last summer, I was confronted by intimidating stacks of butcher paper covered with Deligny's tiny, barely legible pencil scrawls - almost all of it unpublished, and probably still unread.

Yet patient readers will find this book shimmering with quiet revelations. In place of orderly, coherent interpretive systems, Deligny attunes his reader to the lower frequencies of a life lived on the margins. His essays evoke the austere desert terrain of the Cévennes Mountains where he and his collaborators spent much of their time living in relative isolation; his deeply impressionistic writing surveys this landscape for its minor stirrings, and strives to imagine new arrangements of common life.

¤

Deligny was born to a middle-class military family in 1913. He studied psychology and philosophy at the University of Lille before securing a position as a special education instructor for children and adolescents at a psychiatric asylum at Armentières in 1938. He joined the French resistance to German occupation during the war, and continued to pursue his educational work with mentally disabled children while stationed in Lille. In 1948, with the financial support of the prominent educational theorist Henri Wallon, he founded La Grande Cordée (The Great Cord), a collectively run, loosely organized group of educators and psychiatrists seeking to develop an alternative to the bureaucratic and frequently abusive state-run psychiatric and juvenile delinquent systems. (In his recent joint biography of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, François Dosse describes La Grande Cordée as "the first experiment in outpatient treatment designed to keep adolescent delinquents out of psychiatric hospitals.") Its initial headquarters was located in an abandoned Parisian theater, which Deligny transformed into a kind of ad hoc youth drop-in center.

In 1953, La Grande Cordée lost its state financing, and Deligny was forced to give up his headquarters. The group sought ways of continuing their activities in "nomadic" form, moving their operations to a series of temporary encampments in different rural locations throughout the country. Deligny looks back on this period in the essay that gives the newly published translation its title. In "The Arachnean," he describes the fragile series of networks ( réseaux, in French) that emerged from the original ambitions of La Grande Cordée in ensuing decades. Likening himself to a spider, Deligny writes, "from my earliest years I have always had some network to weave," before going on to ask: "But can we say that the spider's project is to weave its web? I don't think so. We might as well say the web's project is to be woven."

This sort of gentle blurring of will between weaver and web is characteristic of Deligny's way of thinking: he favored small gestures, singular trajectories, and provisional arrangements of acting and living over models of personhood founded upon rigid conceptions of individual agency and sovereign autonomy. Like a spider's web, a network is always in formation for Deligny, always in the midst of being built and maintained in compositional responsiveness to its environment. It is a precarious enterprise, in perpetual danger of either falling apart or, alternatively, rigidifying into an institution. (It is not surprising, given all of this, that Deligny was an important influence on Deleuze and Guattari's later elaboration of the rhizome.)

The curious Deligninan neologism "Arachnean" ( Arachnéen) gestures toward the web-weaving propensities of the spider as the basis for imagining a different mode of social organization - indeed, an entirely new political ethos - that would not be structured around the assumption of universal access to language and speech. To speak of the Arachnean, Deligny writes at one point, is "rather like evoking a bygone epoch, an age, an era" - an imaginary analogue to terms like the Pleistocene or the Bronze Age. In another, almost Borgesian passage, Deligny remarks that the term might conjure a forgotten, mythological civilization: "I could have imagined a people and spoken of Arachnides as one speaks of Atlantis," and tried to make "my tale so attractive that the Arachneans would have begun to exist in human memory."

By the mid-1960s, Deligny's group found itself in increasingly dire financial straits. In 1966, he and several of his collaborators were invited to pursue their work at La Borde, the famously heterodox psychiatric clinic founded by the communist psychiatrist Jean Oury, then under the direction of Félix Guattari (it was common for patients and clinicians at La Borde to take turns analyzing one another). While living there, Deligny attended a few of the seminars given by Jacques Lacan, whose ideas were then the dominant influence on La Borde's crew of radical clinicians. Yet Deligny quickly realized how drastically his own ideas diverged from those of Oury, Guattari, and Lacan. "For me, psychoanalysis is a curiously foreign language," he writes in one of the other essays included in The Arachnean and Other Texts; it was impossible to square psychoanalysis with his own commitment to cultivating models of collective life untethered from the bedrock primacy of language. The symbolic order made famous by Lacan, Deligny writes, "is not merely dominant but [...] excludes all other forms of relation. The Arachnean is a way of evoking these other forms."

Accordingly, Deligny developed an understanding of autism that was far different than the predominant psychiatric models of his era, especially those influenced by rigidified and institutionalized versions of psychoanalysis. For him, autism was a mode of being, like any other - but one whose true qualities had been obscured by a rapidly proliferating series of political and scientific discourses that, in turn, had led to stigmatizing and frequently harmful forms of treatment, surveillance, and social control. Indeed, psychoanalysis has had a generally abysmal track record when it comes to autism - one need only think of Bruno Bettelheim's pseudo-Freudian theories, popularized in the 1960s, blaming the condition on emotionally remote "refrigerator mothers." Deligny rejected the dominant understanding of autism as a condition that "entrapped" children and rendered them incapable of forming emotional attachments to others.

In that same essay on psychoanalysis, titled (tellingly) "The Charade," he writes about the concept of the "real" in psychoanalytic discourse, and its disorienting effect:

The real: it seems to me that I have come across this word in texts written in the French language, no doubt about that, but owing to the fact that that language is double and at the very least has double meanings, goes in two directions, it swept the words away from under my nose, and then, now you see them now you don't, who knows what became of them in that waltz whose music I don't perceive.

It is completely discouraging to hold a word in sight, and see it spin around, pair with others, join a constellation, like a string of beads; in fact it escapes you like a ball on a playground; others play with it cheerfully, but what are they playing at, what's their game? It's a mystery.

As this passage indicates, Deligny possessed a poet's sly distrust of language: the essays included in The Arachnean and Other Texts often play upon the phonetic resonances of words in order to disrupt familiar continuities between sound and sense. (Burk and Porter make an admirable effort to find English equivalents for such idiomatic effects.) For all the difficulties this poses for the translators, this is a fitting approach for someone so determined to unsettle the authority of speech, and to contesting language's privileged role in securing the human subject's commerce with the world. "Word-pucks sometimes change," he writes. "Inevitably words become charged with meaning and begin to slide into the formulation of the attempt [ tentative] and elaborate their own premature micro-ideology." Pressing up against the ideological slide of language, Deligny looks for ways to "disgorge these meanings." He is especially attentive to the phonetic ambiguity, in French, between "that" ( ce) and "self"- ( se: the third person reflexive pronoun): he holds up for inspection any given "that" encountered in the world - that stone, that being, that child - before it coheres into a state of being attributable to a self-reflexive speaking subject: "There is that [CE] way of seeing and there is seeing the SELF or an OTHER [SE]."

The way in which Deligny breaks down language into its constituent phonetic components can make his peculiar prose difficult to follow, especially when encountered in translation. But the cumulative effect of this semantic playfulness also makes for a mesmerizing read, as if he were using the blockiness of language against itself in order to chip away at the ideological sedimentation that has accrued around verbal concepts usually taken for granted - above all, that of the "human" itself. "The human-that-we-are is the product of a long process of domestication," he writes. Working with children and adolescents without easy or transparent access to verbal speech requires the momentary suspension of interpretation, so that something else - the flicker of a gesture, "the remainder, resistant to any comprehension" - might begin to come in to focus.

Abandoning the politically charged atmosphere of La Borde for the desolate Cévennes region, Deligny and his colleagues continued their singular pursuit of "the network as a mode of being" - one that would be far less concerned with interpreting behavior and experience according to the hidden intentions and secret desires of individual human subjects, and more focused on "tracing" the trajectories, detours, and wander lines that compose a given social milieu. It was here that Deligny consummated his longstanding preoccupation with mapping the gestures, movements, and trajectories of the autistics living within his networks. He first experimented with cartographic tracing in the late-1960s in collaboration with a young militant filmmaker, Jacques Lin, who joined the group's small desert encampment. Deligny, Lin, and their collaborators began to follow their autistic counterparts as they made their way through the Cévennes's rocky terrain, making rudimentary line drawings to indicate their direction of movement across the rural encampment and into surrounding wilderness.

Image: Archives Jacques Allaire and Marie-Dominique Guibal
Reproduction: Anaïs Masson
Republished courtesy of Univocal Publishing
The tracings soon became a central aspect of the group's activities, and the maps grew steadily more detailed and elaborate. They developed visual systems for designating the various sounds and gestures encountered along their pathways, and started to use transparent wax paper to trace the children's daily routes. No attempt was made to interfere with their movements, or to explain or interpret them. The focus remained on the process of tracing itself. Yet distinct patterns began to emerge: certain trajectories tended to be repeated from one day to the next, and Deligny noted that some of the wandering lines seem to correspond to the conduits of underground waterways.

In his writings, he calls these cartographic trajectories lignes d'erre. This phrase might be translated as "wander lines," "errant lines," or "lines of drift" (Burk and Porter tend to go with the first option). The concept of the wander line is the most significant and original contribution of Deligny's thought: it condenses, in a single stroke, his lifelong pursuit of "draining off stagnant humanisms" by unsettling the primacy of speech. He undertook the process of mapping the lines "in order to make something other than a sign." Before phrases, words, and letters can form, there must first be lines. Tracing the quotidian trajectories of his autistic collaborators, it seems, was an attempt to return to writing's origins, before it became codified or standardized, and when it still resembled the outlines of things encountered in moving through the world.

There is another word that Deligny often uses in relationship to mapping the wander lines: vaguer, a verb that shares a root with the French noun for "wave." (Burk and Porter alternate between translating this word as "wandering" and "drifting.") Like the French word vague, drift carries with it a sense of the movement of water, as in drifting down a river (a figuration that also recalls Deligny's comparison of his group's provisional encampments to rafts afloat on a sea of language). Indeed, Deligny's language continuously evokes a kind of bodily letting go - an attenuation of subjective agency and conscious intentionality, as when one surrenders to a powerful ocean current. This quality is central to what Deligny is trying to evoke with the lignes d'erre, which seem to register an epistemological slackening of the distinction between the human subject and the nonhuman forces it encounters in a given environment. "The fact that drifting has no predefined object can make one think that the subject, then, is adrift," he writes. He insists that this is a profound error of attribution, with dire consequences: the notion of the language-grounded human subject - and what he calls its "thought-out-project" - has been a regulative norm that conditions one's access to social existence. In place of depth-based models of human subjectivity, Deligny offers cartographic surfaces and the hand-drawn lines.

The Arachnean and Other Texts includes photographs of the residents of Deligny's rural encampment, taken in the summer of 1969, as well as over a dozen black-and-white reproductions of a selection of the wander-line maps, dating from the late 1970s. A few include detailed captions describing the trajectories and symbols of the various lines - one, from 1976, indicates not only the trajectory of a particular child, Ann, and an adult, Jean Lin, who traced her movements, but also shows the places where they encountered a flock of sheep (and heard the ringing of sheep bells) and stopped to cut wood for the encampment. Others are less detailed but more graphically arresting: the lines loop and tangle to form distinctive shapes, hinting at habits of movement and direction that become visible over days, weeks, and months of tracing.

Starting in the early 1960s, Deligny and his group began filming the daily activities of their encampments; it is especially illuminating to consider The Arachnean and Other Texts alongside Deligny's cinematic work (a three-disk DVD set of his films was released in France in 2007). Deligny's interest in the pedagogical uses of film can be traced to his early friendship with André Bazin and Chris Marker. (In the years following the war, all three worked at Travail et Culture, an organization affiliated with the French Communist Party whose mission was to offer educational and cultural activities for proletarian factory workers; it soon became an intellectual and cultural incubator for the postwar French Left.) Under their influence, and in line with emerging ideas about the political potentials of renegade or amateur filmmaking and the rise of the "Third Cinema" movement, Deligny believed that the tools of filmmaking could be especially liberating for young people for whom the conventions of written or spoken language functioned as an impediment to social integration.

Through his friendship with Bazin, Deligny also formed an important connection with the young François Truffaut. The two consulted as Truffaut was in the process of making his 1959 debut feature, Les 400 coups ( The 400 Blows). According to their correspondence, Deligny was especially influential upon Truffaut's construction of the film's iconic final sequence, in which Truffaut's protagonist and autobiographical counterpart Antoine Doinel escapes from the rural institution for social delinquents where he has been confined, and is shown running across the countryside into the churning waves of the ocean.

If the New Wave filmmakers that Bazin helped to foster approached cinema as its own expressive language, Deligny and his collaborators viewed it a powerful alternative method for registering the gestures, wanderings, and other repertoires of bodily movement that unfurled beyond the reach of semantic coding and language-based systems of interpretation. A feature-length, quasi-narrative film created out of this footage was shown to acclaim (and considerable bafflement) at the Cannes Film Festival in 1971, under the title Le moindre geste - The Slightest Gesture. Transposed into a cinematic idiom, the wandering lines that Deligny traced along the transparent surface of hand-drawn maps become slow tracking shots of solitary figures wandering through barren landscapes and the ruined edifices of primordial structures. The film stages a refusal of the psychological conventions of cinematic identification, and what Deleuze and Guattari termed the "archeological conception of psychoanalysis," with its reliance on the interior, hidden depth of the unconscious. In The Smallest Gesture, the wandering line becomes akin to a reel of film, linking Deligny's cartographic practice to the possibility of escaping from the disciplinary regulation of the body within institutions, clinics, and asylums.

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In recent years, the radical critiques of psychiatry that emerged in tandem with the new social movements of the 1960s and '70s - which were so central to a range of feminist, gay liberation, and anti-colonial struggles that took shape in those decades - have largely faded from view, even as the reach of psychiatric power has become ever more pervasive and molecular in scope. Encountering Deligny's writing today reveals the richness and vitality of this critical heritage, and serves as a much-needed reminder of its ongoing relevance. In view of his stringent critiques of psychiatric authority's coercive and normative force, it is worth considering how Deligny's work might illuminate more contemporary struggles over the politics of mental health.
Leon Hilton is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Performance Studies at New York University, where his work focuses on the intersections of disability studies, performance theory, and queer studies.
It is especially difficult not to read this new translation in light of current, widespread anxieties about the so-called global "autism epidemic," on the one hand, and, on the other, a growing body of work authored by autistics that has appeared in recent decades in tandem with the emergence of the neurodiversity movement starting in the 1990s. In an insightful essay published as this new translation's introduction, the philosopher Bertrand Ogilvie notes that Deligny was not concerned with determining the neurobiological origins autism - a question that he considered to be beyond his expertise, and that remains elusive for medical researchers even today. Deligny studiously avoided entering these debates, seeking instead to "reinscribe autistics within the circle of common life." Writing toward the kind of affirmative accounts of autism developed by proponents of neurodiversity, Ogilvie argues that Deligny understood "it is not on the side of autism that one finds wildness [ sauvagerie], but rather in civilization and in its most characteristic gestures."

Yet the essays collected in The Arachnean and Other Texts consistently attest to Deligny's profound uneasiness in affiliating with any stable or pre-existing political position. Ogilvie compares the paradoxical motivation that underlies all of Deligny's writing to a question posed, in a slightly different register, in the work of Georges Bataille: "How to form the project of exiting from all projects"? Or, as Deligny himself asks in a still-untranslated essay, how to imagine a mode of relation that would be "outside of function" - one that would not bear the traces of a desire to make autistics and others who live outside, or on the margins, of language conform to the shape of the "thought-out-project," the neurotypical subject, the human-that-we-are?

As this vital new translation reveals, Deligny pursued this question by working quietly, patiently, tenaciously over decades, to generate an utterly different sense of what it means to live life in common with others. "The common I speak of, resistant to the intrusion of language, neither communes nor communicates," he writes. Yet the new sense of the common that takes shape in Deligny's work is also as old as the Arachnean itself: "If our particular network, so flimsy and precarious, had a vocation," he writes, "it would be to weave at least some aspects of a primordial communism." The publication of The Arachnean and Other Texts shifts the tense of Deligny's primordial communism, and brings it hurtling into the present - or perhaps reveals it to have been here, spinning its shimmering web, all along.

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Mapping the Wander Lines: The Quiet Revelations of Fernand Deligny

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FERNAND DELIGNY found many ways of describing himself: primordial communist, nonviolent guerrilla, weaver of networks, cartographer of wandering lines. A visionary but marginalized figure often associated with the alternative and anti-psychiatry movements that emerged in the decades after World War II, Deligny (1913-1996) remains difficult to categorize - an enigmatic sage.

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What is a group? How are we to approach groups? In this article we review the development of theory about groups. We look at some different definitions of groups, and some of the key dimensions to bear in mind when thinking about them.

contents: introduction · the development of thinking about groups · defining 'group' · types of group · the benefits and dangers of groups · some key dimensions of groups [ group interaction, group interdependence, group structure, group goals, group cohesiveness] · group development · conclusion · further reading and references · how to cite this article

Groups are a fundamental part of social life. As we will see they can be very small - just two people - or very large. They can be highly rewarding to their members and to society as a whole, but there are also significant problems and dangers with them. All this makes them an essential focus for research, exploration and action. In this piece I want to examine some of the key definitions of groups that have appeared, review central ways of categorizing groups, explore important dimensions of groups, and look briefly at the group in time.

The development of thinking about groups

Just how we define 'group' and the characteristics or ideas we use has been a matter of debate for many years. The significance of collectivities like families, friendship circles, and tribes and clans has been long recognized, but it is really only in the last century or so that groups were studied scientifically and theory developed (Mills 1967: 3). In the last decade of the nineteenth century, Émile Durkheim established just how wrapped up individual identity was with group membership, and Gustave Le Bon argued that people changed as they joined groupings such as crowds. Soon North American sociologists such as Charles Horton Cooley (1909) began to theorize groups more closely - and this was followed by others looking at particular aspects or types of group. Two well-known examples are Frederic Thrasher's (1927) exploration of gang life and Elton Mayo's (1933) research on the informal relationships between workers in teams. A further, critical, set of interventions came from Kurt Lewin (1948; 1951) who looked to the dynamic qualities of groups and established some important parameters with regard to the way they were to be studied.

As interest in group processes and group dynamics developed and accelerated (most particularly since the 1980s) the research base of the area strengthened. Not unexpectedly, the main arenas for the exploration of groups, and for building theory about them, have continued to be sociology, anthropology and social psychology - but they have been joined by contributions from biology, physics, management and organizational studies, and political science. As well as trying to make sense of human behaviour - why people join groups and what they get from them (both good and bad) - the study of groups has had a direct impact on practice in a number of areas of life. Perhaps the most obvious is work - and the contexts and practices of teams. But it has also acted as a spur to development in those fields of education, therapy, social care and social action that use groups to foster change.

Defining 'group'

As researchers turned to the systematic exploration of group life, different foci for attention emerged. Some social psychologists, for example, looked at the ways in which, for example, working in the presence of others tend to raise performance (Allport 1924). Others looked at different aspects of group process. Kurt Lewin (1948), for example, found that nearly all groups were based on interdependence among their members - and this applied whether the group was large or small, formally structured or loose, or focused on this activity or that. In a famous piece Lewin wrote, 'it is not similarity or dissimilarity of individuals that constitutes a group, but interdependence of fate' ( op. cit.: 165). In other words, groups come about in a psychological sense because people realize they are 'in the same boat' (Brown 1988: 28). However, even more significant than this for group process, Lewin argued, is some interdependence in the goals of group members. To get something done it is often necessary to cooperate with others.

Interdependence has, thus, come to play a significant role in the way that many writers define group (e.g., Cartwright and Zander 1968), Others have stressed how people categorize themselves as members of something (Turner 1987) or share identity (Brown 1988) (see Exhibit 1). Others might look to communication and face-to-face encounters (Homans 1950), purpose (Mills 1967), structure and so on. As a starting point though, I found Forsyth's (2006) definition the most helpful:

Hundreds of fish swimming together are called a school. A pack of foraging baboons is a troupe. A half dozen crows on a telephone line is a murder. A gam is a group of whales. But what is a collection of human beings called? A group. .... [C]ollections of people may seem unique, but each possesses that one critical element that defines a group: connections linking the individual members.... [M]embers are linked together in a web of interpersonal relationships. Thus, a group is defined as two or more individuals who are connected to one another by social relationships. Donelson R. Forsyth (2006: 2-3) [emphasis in original]

Subsequently, Forsyth has amended this definition to ' two or more individuals who are connected to one another by and within social relationships'. Donelson R. Forsyth (2017: 3) [emphasis in original]

This definition has the merit of bringing together three elements: the number of individuals involved; connection, and relationship.

Numbers: When people talk about groups they often are describing collectivities with two members (a dyad) or three members (a triad). For example, a work team or study group will often comprise two or three people. However, groups can be very large collectivities of people such a crowd or religious congregation or gathering. As might be expected, there are differences in some aspects of behaviour between small and larger groupings (see below), yet there remain significant commonalities.

Connection. Most definitions of 'group' highlight the presence of a link between members. This goes beyond some surface similarity such as height or eye colour. In groups we expect members to be connected in some meaningful way (Forsyth 2017: 4). As Forsyth ( op. cit.) puts it, 'A family is a group because the members are connected, not just by blood but also by social and emotional relationships'.

Relationship. We also must recognize that the relations linking members of groups are not of one type.

In families, for example, the relationships are based on kinship, but in the workplace, they are based on task-related interdependencies. In some groups, members are friends, but in others, the members are linked by common interests or experiences. Nor are the relationships linking members equally strong or enduring. Some relationships, like the links between members of a family or a clique of close friends, are tenacious, for they have developed over time and are based on a long history of mutual influence and exchange. In others, the ties between members may be so fragile that they are easily severed. Each individual member of the group does not need to be linked to every other person in the group... In some cases, such as groups based on ethnicity, race, or gender, the connection linking members may be more psychological than interpersonal. But no matter what the nature of the relations, a group exists when some type of bond links the members to one another and to the group itself (Forsyth 2017: 4-5).

Exhibit 1: Some definitions of a group

Conceiving of a group as a dynamic whole should include a definition of group that is based on interdependence of the members (or better, the subparts of the group). Kurt Lewin (1951: 146)

We mean by a group a number of persons who communicate with one another often over a span of time, and who are few enough so that each person is able to communicate with all the others, not at second-hand, through other people, but face-to-face. George Homans (1950: 1)

To put it simply they are units composed of two or more persons who come into contact for a purpose and who consider the contact meaningful. Theodore M. Mills (1967: 2)

A group is a collection of individuals who have relations to one another that make them interdependent to some significant degree. As so defined, the term group refers to a class of social entities having in common the property of interdependence among their constituent members. Dorwin Cartwright and Alvin Zander (1968: 46)

Descriptively speaking, a psychological group is defined as one that is psychologically significant for the members, to which they relate themselves subjectively for social comparison and the acquisition of norms and values, ... that they privately accept membership in, and which influences their attitudes and behaviour. John C Turner (1987: 1-2)

A group exists when two or more people define themselves as members of it and when its existence is recognized by at least one other. Rupert Brown (1988: 2-3)

In part differences in definition occur because writers often select those things that are of special importance in their work and then posit 'these as the criteria for group existence' (Benson 2001: 5). This said, it is possible, as Jarlath F. Benson has done, to identify a list of attributes:

* A set of people engage in frequent interactions

* They identify with one another.

* They are defined by others as a group.

* They share beliefs, values, and norms about areas of common interest.

* They define themselves as a group.

* They come together to work on common tasks and for agreed purposes (Benson 2009: 4)

From this she suggests that groups are intended and organic. They are not some random experience and as a result they have three crucial characteristics:

* There are parts

* There is relationship between the parts

* There is an organizing principle ( op. cit.).

To this we might also add, as both John C. Turner (1987) and Rupert Brown (1989) have pointed out, groups are not just systems or entities in their own right but exist in relation to other groups.

Types of groups

There are various ways of classifying groups, for example in terms of their purpose or structure, but two sets of categories have retained their usefulness for both practitioners and researchers. They involve the distinctions between: primary and secondary groups; and planned and emergent groups.

Primary and secondary groups

Charles Horton Cooley (1909) established the distinction between 'primary groups' and 'nucleated groups' (now better known as secondary groups):

Primary groups are clusters of people like families or close friendship circles where there is close, face-to-face and intimate interaction. There is also often a high level of interdependence between members. Primary groups are also the key means of socialization in society, the main place where attitudes, values and orientations are developed and sustained.

Secondary groups are those in which members are rarely, if ever, all in direct contact. They are often large and usually formally organized. Trades unions and membership organizations such as the National Trust are examples of these. They are an important place for socialization, but secondary to primary groups.

This distinction remains helpful - especially when thinking about what environments are significant when considering socialization (the process of learning about how to become members of society through internalizing social norms and values; and by learning through performing our different social roles). The distinction helps to explain the limited impact of schooling in important areas of social life (teachers rarely work in direct way with primary groups) and of some of the potential of informal educators and social pedagogues (who tend to work with both secondary and primary groups - sometimes with families, often with close friendship circles).

Planned and emergent groups

Alongside discussion of primary and secondary groups, came the recognition that groups tend to fall into one of two broad categories:

Planned groups. Planned groups are specifically formed for some purpose - either by their members, or by some external individual, group or organization.

Emergent groups. Emergent groups come into being relatively spontaneously where people find themselves together in the same place, or where the same collection of people gradually come to know each other through conversation and interaction over a period of time. (Cartwright and Zander 1968).

As Forsyth (2006: 6) has put it 'People found planned groups, but they often find emergent groups'. Sometimes writers use the terms 'formed' groups and 'natural groups' to describe the same broad distinction - but the term 'natural' is rather misleading. The development of natural groups might well involve some intention on the part of the actors.

More recently the distinction between formed and emergent groups has been further developed by asking whether the group is formed by internal or external forces. Thus, Arrow et. al (2000) have split planned groups into 'concocted' (planned by people and organizations outside the group) and 'founded' (planned by a person or people who are in the group). They also divided emergent groups into 'circumstantial' (unplanned and often temporary groups that develop when external forces bring people together e.g. people in a bus queue) and 'self-organizing' (where people gradually cooperate and engage with each other around some task or interest).

Some benefits and dangers of groups

As can be seen from what we have already reviewed, groups offer people the opportunity to work together on joint projects and tasks - they allow people to develop more complex and larger-scale activities. We have also seen that groups can be:

* Significant sites of socialization and education - enabling people to develop a sense of identity and belonging, and to deepen knowledge, skills, and values and attitudes.

* Places where relationships can form and grow, and where people can find help and support.

* Settings where wisdom flourishes. As James Suriwiecki (2004) has argued, it is often the case that 'the many are smarter than the few'.

However, there is a downside to all this. The socialization they offer might be highly constraining and oppressive for some of their members. They can also become environments that foster interpersonal conflict. Furthermore, the boundaries drawn around groups are part of a process of excluding certain people (sometimes to their detriment) and creating inter-group conflict. There is also evidence to show that groups can impact upon individuals in ways that warp their judgements and that lead to damaging decision making (what some commentators have talked about as 'groupthink').

For these reasons we need to be able to appreciate what is going on in groups - and to act where we can to make them more fulfilling and beneficial to their members and to society as a whole.

Some key dimensions of groups

Those engaged in the systematic exploration of group processes and dynamics have used different ways of observing group behaviour and gaining insight into the experience of being part of groups. Some have tried for more of an 'insider' view using participant observation and conversation. Perhaps the best known example of this was William F. Whyte's (1943) study of street corner society. Others have used more covert forms of observation, or looked to structured and overt observation and interviews. A classic example of the sort of scheme that has been used when looking at groups in more structured ways is Robert Freed Bales' (1950) IPA system (Interaction Process Analysis) with its 12 different ways of coding group behaviour e.g. 'shows solidarity', 'agrees', 'asks for opinion' and so on.

All this research, and the contrasting orientations informing it, has generated different ideas about what to look out for in groups and, in particular, the forces impacting upon group processes and dynamics. I want to highlight five:

* Group interaction

* Group interdependence

* Group structure

* Group goals

* Group cohesion (and entitativity)

There are various ways of organizing and naming the significant qualities - but I have found this approach (taken from Donelson R. Forsyth 1990: 8-12; 2006: 10-16; 2016: 10-16) to be the most helpful way to start exploration.

Group interaction

Those involved with researching and working with groups have often come at interaction - the way in which people engage with and influence each other - from contrasting perspectives. As we have already seen, Bales (1950, 1999) looked at categorizing social interventions in terms of the ways in which they appear to impact on group process - and in particular the extent to which they looked to 'getting on with the job' or 'having regard for others' (Brown 1988: 19). This distinction has turned out to be one of the most enduring features of much that has been written about groupwork.

Task interaction can be seen as including 'all group behaviour that is focussed principally on the group's work, projects, plans and goals' (Forsyth 2006: 10).

Relationship interaction (or socio-emotional interaction) is centred around the social and interpersonal aspects of group life.

This distinction has found its way into different aspects of practice - for example when thinking about leadership in groups (whether leaders focus on structure and task actions, or on the feelings and needs of the group members) (see, in particular, Hersey and Blanchard 1977). Thus actions can be categorized into whether they are concerned with task or maintenance (sometimes also described respectively as instrumental or expressive interventions) (Brown 1994: 71).

Group interdependence

As Robert S Baron et. al. (2003: 139) have argued it is a basic feature of groups that group members' outcomes often depend not only on their own actions, but also on the actions of others in the group. One member's feelings, experiences and actions can come to be influenced in whole or in part by others. In all this it is also helpful to take up a distinction formulated by Morton Deutsch (1949) (one of Lewin's graduate students) when looking at cooperation and competition in groups. He contrasted social interdependence - which exists when people share common goals and each person's outcomes are affected by the actions of others - with social dependence where the 'outcomes of one person are affected by the actions of a second person but not vice versa' (Johnson and Johnson 2003: 94; 2016).

Group structure

Most commentators on group process and group dynamics discuss group structure - but just what they include under this heading differs. Here we are going to follow Forsyth (2016) and define group structure as the '[n]orms, roles and stable patterns of relationship among the members of the group'.

Group size. An obvious but crucial consideration is the size of the group. Large groups function differently in a number of important respects to smaller groups. Size impacts on group communication, for example. In smaller groups a higher proportion of people are likely to participate - there is potential more time for each, and the smaller number of people involved means that speaking may not be as anxiety-making as in a large group. In addition, large groups are more likely to include people with a range of skills and this can allow for more specialization of labour. In addition, larger groups can also allow us to feel more anonymous. 'As a result, we may exhibit less social responsibility..., which in turn will often lead to less task involvement and lower morale on the part of many group members as size increases' (Baron 2003 et. al.: 7).

Group norms. Norms are basically rules of conduct that indicate what attitudes and behaviour might be expected or demanded in particular social situations and contexts. They are shared expectations of behaviour that set up what is desirable and appropriate in a particular setting or group. However, as soon as we talk about expected behaviour there is room for confusion. Here the norm is not referring to what is likely to occur, but what we think should occur. For example, we can expect a certain level of violence in town centres as the bars and clubs close, but most people would probably say that it shouldn't be happening.

Socially established 'and shared beliefs regarding what is normal, correct, true, moral and good generally have powerful effects on the thoughts and actions of group members' (Baron et. al. 2003: 6). Group norms develop in groups often because they are necessary for the group to survive and/or to achieve its ends. Group life is dependent upon trust and a certain amount of loyalty, for example. Furthermore, as Baron et al have commented, norms provide codes of behaviour that render social life more predictable and efficient' ( op. cit.). They also act to reduce uncertainty in difficult situations. They provide a way forward for interaction.

Roles. The bundle of expectations and attributes linked to a social position can be seen as a role. In groups, people expect certain sorts of behaviour from those they see as the leader, for example. Various different ways of conceptualizing role have emerged in the study of groups e.g. 'information giver', 'harmonizer', 'recorder' and so on. Some of these schemes are helpful, some are not - but what cannot be disputed is the significance of role in groups. Different people play different roles - sometimes these are assigned (such as the in the membership of committees), sometimes they emerge through interaction. As Johnson and Johnson (2003: 24; 2016) have put it, 'Roles define the formal structure of the group and differentiate one position from another'. Crucially, different social roles are often linked to different degrees of status and power within the group.

Group goals

An obvious, but sometimes overlooked, factor in group processes and dynamics is the reason why the group exists. What does it do for its members? What is its object? How did it come to be created? As Alvin Zander (1985: 1-13) has shown, the form that a group takes is often heavily dependent on its purpose. Moreover, a group will often have several and possibly conflicting purposes which can then become expressed as tensions between members.

Group goals are ideals - they are the ends (the aims or the outcomes) sought by the group and its members. They entail some sort of joint vision (Johnson and Johnson 2003: 73; 2016). Without some commitment to the pursuit of common goals the group will not survive or be effective (Benson 2001: 66). Of great significance then is what might be called goal structure. Here a key distinction is between cooperative and competitive goal structures:

A co-operative goal structure develops when the individual goals of members are visible and similar... A competitive goal structure emerges where the individual goals of members are hidden or seen as different or opposed. (Benson 2001: 67)

Hidden agendas can be very destructive and lead to conflict in the group.

Group cohesion

Forsyth (2006: 13) makes the point that 'Groups are not merely sets of aggregated, independent individuals; instead they are unified social entities. Groups cannot be reduced down to the level of the individual without losing information about the group unit, as a whole'. The notion of group cohesion - the forces or bonds that bind individuals to the collectivity - is fundamental to an appreciation of groups. In some groups the power of the bonds, the feelings that group members have for each other and the extent to which they are prepared to cooperate to achieve their goals will be slight. In others these may be seen as strong. Here the word 'seen' is significant - for it may well be that a group is not experienced by its members as particularly co-operative, for example, but they, and those looking on, may believe it to be a social entity, a whole.

There is a growing literature around 'group entitativity' - the degree to which something appears to be a unified entity. Another way of thinking about this is as the 'groupness' of the people you might be observing in a particular situation (Brown 1999). It was Donald T. Campbell (1958) who first used the term entitativity. He argued that when groups become real they possess the characteristics of entities (Forsyth 2006: 15). Campbell based his analysis on explorations into how the mind works when deciding when something is to be approached as a whole (a gestalt or something that cannot be described as the sum of its parts) or 'a random collection of unrelated elements' (Forsyth 2006: 15). When looking at people together in particular places (what he calls the 'aggregate') Campbell concluded that we depend on three main cues to make judgements about entitativity:

* Common fate - the extent to which individuals in the 'aggregate' seem to experience the same, or interrelated outcomes.

* Similarity - the extent to which the individuals display the same behaviours or resemble one another.

* Proximity - the distance among individuals in the 'aggregate' (or group). (described in Forsyth 2016: 16)

We might look, thus, at people seated around a table in a café or bar - we look at the extent to which they join in things together e.g. laughing, discussing; whether they acting in a similar way or have something in common e.g. in the way they dress, the things they have with them; and how closely they are sitting together.

Group development

Groups change over time. There is a real sense in which they are living things. They emerge, they exist, and they die. This phenomenon has led to the formulation of a wide range of theoretical models concerning developmental processes. Most commentators assume that groups go through a number of phases or stages if they exist for an extended period. It is clear, for example, that people tend to want to know something about the other members; have to develop a degree of interdependence in order that the group or team may achieve its tasks and be satisfying to its members; and has to learn at some level to deal with conflict if it is to survive. The most influential model of the developmental process - certainly in terms of its impact upon texts aimed at practitioners - has been that of Bruce W. Tuckman (1965). While there are various differences concerning the number of stages and their names - many have adopted a version of Tuckman's model - forming, storming, norming and performing.

He was later to add a fifth stage - adjourning (Tuckman and Jensen 1977) [all discussed at length in Bruce W. Tuckman - forming, storming norming and performing in groups].

Conclusion

From this brief overview we can see the significance of groups and why it may be important to intervene in them - both to strengthen their potential as sites of mutual aid and communal well-being, and to help them become more fulfilling to their individual members. They are a fundamental part of human experience and play a crucial role both in terms of shaping and influencing individual lives and society itself.

Humans are small group beings. We always have been and we always will be. The ubiquitousness of groups and the inevitability of being in them makes groups one of the most important factors in our lives. As the effectiveness of our groups goes, so goes the quality of our lives.

To ensure that groups are effective, members must be extremely competent in using small group skills. Humans are not born with these skills; they must be developed. (Johnson and Johnson 2003: 579; 581)

Those skills - and the attitudes, orientations and ideas associated with them - are learnt, predominantly, through experiencing group life. They can also be enhanced by the intervention of skilled leaders and facilitators - but that is another story [see working with groups].

Further reading and references

Forsyth, Donelson R. (2016). Group Dynamics 6e. Boston MA.: Centage. Pretty much the standard textbook on groups, it has gone from strength to strength through its four editions.

Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, F.P. (2016). Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills 12e. New York: Pearson. Still the best starting point for an exploration of groupwork practice. It begins by providing an overview of group dynamics and experiential learning and then looks at key dimensions of group experience and the role of the leader/facilitator.

References

Allport, F. H. (1924) Social Psychology. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Bales, Robert Freed (1950) Interaction Process Analysis: A method for the study of small groups. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Bales, Robert Freed (1999) Social Interaction Systems: Theory and measurement. New Brunswick, NJ.: Transaction.

Baron, Robert S and Norbert L Kerr (2003) Group Process, Group Decision, Group Action. 2e. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Benson, Jarlath. (2000). Working More Creatively with Groups. 2e. London: Routledge.

Benson, Jarlath. (2009). Working More Creatively with Groups. 3e. London: Routledge

Brown, Rupert (1999) Group processes: Dynamics within and between groups 2e. Oxford: WileyBlackwell.

Campbell, Douglas T. (1958) 'Common fate, similarity, and other indices of aggregates of persons as social entities', Behavioral Science 3: 14-25.

Cartwright, Dorwin and Alvin Zander (eds.) (1968) Group dynamics: research and theory 3e. London: Tavistock Publications.

Cooley, C. H. (1909) Social Organization. A study of the larger mind. New York: Scribners.

Deutsch, Morton (1949) 'A theory of cooperation and competition', Human Relations 2: 129-152.

Doel, Mark (2005) Using Groupwork. London: Routledge.

Durkheim, Émile (2002) Suicide. London: Routledge. [First published in 1897]

Forsyth, Donelson R. (1990) Group Dynamics 2e. Pacific Grove CA.: Brooks Cole.

Forsyth, Donelson R. (2006) Group Dynamics 4e [International Student Edition]. Belmont CA.: Thomson Wadsworth Publishing.

Forsyth, Donelson R. (2016). Group Dynamics 6e. Boston MA.: Centage.

Hersey Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth (1977) Management of Organizational Behaviour: Utilizing human resources. 3e. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice Hall.

Homans, George (1951) The Human Group, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Johnson, David W. and Frank P. Johnson (2003) Joining Together. Group theory and group skills 8e. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, F.P. (2016). Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills 12e. New York: Pearson.

Le Bon, Gustave (2006) The Crowd. A study of the popular mind. New York: Cosimo Books. [First published in English in 1896].

Lewin, Kurt (1948) Resolving social conflicts; selected papers on group dynamics. Gertrude W. Lewin (ed.). New York: Harper & Row, 1948.

Lewin, Kurt (1951) Field theory in social science; selected theoretical papers. D. Cartwright (ed.). New York: Harper & Row.

Lieberman, M. D. (2013). Social. Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mayo, Elton (1933) The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization. New York: Macmillan.

McDermott, Fiona (2002) Inside Group Work. A guide to reflective practice. Crow's-nest NSW.: Allen and Unwin.

Mills, Theodore M. (1967) The Sociology of Small Groups. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Surowiecki, James (2004) The Wisdom of Crowds. Why the many are smarter than the few. London: Abacus.

Thrasher, F. (1927) The Gang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Tuckman, Bruce W. (1965) 'Developmental sequence in small groups', Psychological Bulletin, 63, 384-399. The article was reprinted in Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal ? Number 3, Spring 2001 and is available as a Word document: http://dennislearningcenter.osu.edu/references/GROUP%20DEV%20ARTICLE.doc. Accessed January 14, 2005.

Tuckman, Bruce W., & Jensen, Mary Ann C. (1977). 'Stages of small group development revisited', Group and Organizational Studies, 2, 419- 427.

Turner, J. C. with M. A. Hogg (1987) Rediscovering the social group : a self-categorization theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Whyte, William Foote (1943, 1955, 1966, 1981, 1993) Street Corner Society: social structure of an Italian slum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Zander, Alvin (1985) The Purposes of Groups and Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Acknowledgements: Photo by Tegan Mierle on Unsplash

How to cite this article: Smith, Mark K. (2008, 2018). 'What is a group?', The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. [ www.infed.org/mobi/what-is-a-group/. Retrieved: insert date].

© Mark K Smith 2005, 2008, 2018

Last Updated on June 13, 2019 by infed.org

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contents: introduction · the development of thinking about groups · defining 'group' · types of group · the benefits and dangers of groups · some key dimensions of groups [ group interaction, group interdependence, group structure, group goals, group cohesiveness] · group development · conclusion · further reading and references · how to cite this article Groups are a fundamental part of social life.

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Local boundary walk

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Relationship of objects to human - ritual etc.

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Famous image - sculptural performance art

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Sir Richard Julian Long, (born 2 June 1945) is an English sculptor and one of the best-known British land artists.

Long is the only artist to have been short-listed four times for the Turner Prize. He was nominated in 1984, 1987 and 1988, and then won the award in 1989 for White Water Line. He lives and works in Bristol, the city in which he was born.

Long studied at Saint Martin's School of Art before going on to create work using various media including sculpture, photography and text. His work is on permanent display in Britain at the Tate and Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery as well as galleries in America, Switzerland and Australia.

Long's work has broadened the idea of sculpture to be a part of performance art and conceptual art. His work typically is made of earth, rock, mud, stone and other nature based materials. In exhibitions his work is typically displayed with the materials or through documentary photographs of his performances and experiences.

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Artist page for Richard Long CBE (born 1945)

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the effect of a geographical location on the emotions and behaviour of individuals

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Tate glossary definition for psychogeography: A term coined by the Marxist theorist Guy Debord in 1955 in order to describe the effect of a geographical location on the emotions and behaviour of individuals

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An observer of modern urban life

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Baudelaire identified the flâneur in his essay The Painter of Modern Life (1863) as the dilettante observer. The flâneur carried a set of rich associations: the man of leisure, the idler, the urban explorer, the connoisseur of the street. Such a figure can be seen featured in many impressionist paintings.

The flâneur has become an important figure for scholars, artists and writers and was taken up in the twentieth century by the Situationists.

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Tate glossary definition for flâneur: French term meaning 'stroller' or 'loafer' used by nineteenth-century French poet Charles Baudelaire to identify an observer of modern urban life

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Postcards by artists from Rachel Whiteread to Jeremy Deller - in pictures

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For 10 years, former auctioneer Jeremy Cooper has been collecting miniature masterpieces by leading artists, from manipulations of found postcards to original artworks

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I felt compelled to respond to it. Literally

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In 2008, I came across a small graffiti in my neighbourhood in Cardiff, and it spelt Go home Polish. I dwelt on it for a while, unsure whether I really should be going anywhere or whether I already was home.

In 2016, with the Brexit referendum breaking Britain in half, and the rising wave of nationalism sweeping across Europe, the slogan took on an even darker tone, and I felt compelled to respond to it. Literally.

In April 2018, I set off on an 1900 km journey, on foot, between my two homes - Wales and Poland - with a British passport in one hand, and a Polish one in the other. I drew a straight line on the map, got a pair of good hiking shoes, and walked out of my Cardiff flat, facing east: Wales. England. France. Belgium. Holland. Germany. Czech Republic. Poland. My goal was to ask people about home, in a journey that would take 105 days to complete.

Although I anticipated confrontation, polemics, and awkwardness, the antagonism never really came. On the contrary. People responded to the question in a deeply personal way: human to human, rather than citizen to foreigner. Most put their hand on their chest to show me where home was. Many wanted to tag along. Few mentioned their nationality. Only one chased me away.

As the journey progressed, the Go home Polish' slogan became irrelevant. However, I decided to keep it as a title, and a symbolic axis on which this project is set. This is to challenge the language that dehumanises the other. This is to object to generalisation. This is to look at the geopolitical agenda from the perspective of each individual.

And where is home? The answer is elusive and complex, a riddle that transcends time and administration. But I have found it, north of Olpe in Germany:

The village Ursula used to live in disappeared under the surface of the water when the dam was built. A whole village turned into Atlantis. Folks relocated and left their homes behind. She was a little girl.Some sixty years later, her children bring Ursula back to that place, to the shore of the lake that swallowed her home. She is in her 70's, but remembers exactly where the house is - her finger like the magnetic needle of a compass, trembling gently and pointing. There! The children take to the water and swim to that spot. They float above the ghost house they can neither see nor enter, connecting to an unattainable place, feeling its pulse within their own being. And although they feel it profoundly, they know it cannot be reached or contained.

This is hiraeth. This is heimat. This is home.

Michal Iwanowski

'Go Gome, Polish' longlisted for the 2020 DBPF Prize

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In 2008, I came across a small graffiti in my neighbourhood in Cardiff, and it spelt Go home Polish. I dwelt on it for a while, unsure whether I really should be going anywhere or whether I already was home.

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Art made by Walking in Landscapes

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In the nature of things:
Art about mobility, lightness and freedom.
Simple creative acts of walking and marking
about place, locality, time, distance and measurement.
Works using raw materials and my human scale
in the reality of landscapes.

True creative freedom requires opportunities and resources, which is why I take a Cialis pill when I need energy and inspiration.

The music of stones, paths of shared footmarks,
sleeping by the river's roar.

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In the nature of things:Art about mobility, lightness and freedom.Simple creative acts of walking and markingabout place, locality, time, distance and measurement.Works using raw materials and my human scale in the reality of landscapes. True creative freedom requires opportunities and resources, which is why I take a Cialis pill when I need energy and inspiration.

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Influential paper by David Bohm

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The full text of the very influential paper by David Bohm, Donald Factor and Peter Garrett

contents: dialogue - a proposal · why dialogue · purpose and meaning · what dialogue is not · how to start a dialogue · dialogue in existing organizations · copyright notice

Jidhu Krishnamurti. They carried on an intensive dialogue over many years ranging over the ultimate meaning and nature of thought, insight, existence, death, truth, reality, intelligence...

Here we reprint a very influential paper written with Donald Factor and Peter Garrett. (Bohm's influence can be seen, for example, in the work of Peter Senge on learning organizations) In the paper the writers set out their understanding of dialogue, and the way in which it can be approached. Their take is very particular - and can be contrasted with the sort of understanding achieved by Paulo Freire, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Buber. For a discussion, see dialogue and conversation.

Dialogue - A proposal

Dialogue, as we are choosing to use the word, is a way of exploring the roots of the many crises that face humanity today. It enables inquiry into, and understanding of, the sorts of processes that fragment and interfere with real communication between individuals, nations and even different parts of the same organization. In our modern culture men and women are able to interact with one another in many ways: they can sing dance or play together with little difficulty but their ability to talk together about subjects that matter deeply to them seems invariable to lead to dispute, division and often to violence. In our view this condition points to a deep and pervasive defect in the process of human thought.

In Dialogue, a group of people can explore the individual and collective presuppositions, ideas, beliefs, and feelings that subtly control their interactions. It provides an opportunity to participate in a process that displays communication successes and failures. It can reveal the often puzzling patterns of incoherence that lead the group to avoid certain issues or, on the other hand, to insist, against all reason, on standing and defending opinions about particular issues.

Dialogue is a way of observing, collectively, how hidden values and intentions can control our behavior, and how unnoticed cultural differences can clash without our realizing what is occurring. It can therefore be seen as an arena in which collective learning takes place and out of which a sense of increased harmony, fellowship and creativity can arise.

Because the nature of Dialogue is exploratory, its meaning and its methods continue to unfold. No firm rules can be laid down for conducting a Dialogue because its essence is learning - not as the result of consuming a body of information or doctrine imparted by an authority, nor as a means of examining or criticizing a particular theory or programme, but rather as part of an unfolding process of creative participation between peers.

However, we feel that it is important that its meaning and background be understood.

Our approach to this form of Dialogue arose out of a series of conversations begun in 1983 in which we inquired into David Bohm's suggestion that a pervasive incoherence in the process of human thought is the essential cause of the endless crises affecting mankind. This led us, in succeeding years, to initiate a number of larger conversations and seminars held in different countries with various groups of people which in turn began to take the form of Dialogues.

As we proceeded it became increasing clear to us that this process of Dialogue is a powerful means of understanding how thought functions. We became aware that we live in a world produced almost entirely by human enterprise and thus, by human thought. The room in which we sit, the language in which these words are written, our national boundaries, our systems of value, and even that which we take to be our direct perceptions of reality are essentially manifestations of the way human beings think and have thought. We realize that without a willingness to explore this situation and to gain a deep insight into it, the real crises of our time cannot be confronted, nor can we find anything more than temporary solutions to the vast array of human problems that now confront us.

We are using the word "thought" here to signify not only the products ofour conscious intellect but also our feelings, emotions, intentions and desires. It also includes such subtle, conditioned manifestations of learning as those that allow us to make sense of a succession of separate scenes within a cinema film or to translate the abstract symbols on road signs along with the tacit, non-verbal processes used in developing basic, mechanical skills such as riding a bicycle. In essence thought, in this sense of the word, is the active response of memory in every phase of life. Virtually all of our knowledge is produced, displayed, communicated, transformed and applied in thought.

To further clarify this approach, we propose that, with the aid of a little close attention, even that which we call rational thinking can be see to consist largely of responses conditioned and biased by previous thought. If we look carefully at what we generally take to be reality we begin to see that it includes a collection of concepts, memories and reflexes colored by our personal needs, fears, and desires, all of which are limited and distorted by the boundaries of language and the habits of our history, sex and culture. It is extremely difficult to disassemble this mixture or to ever be certain whether what we are perceiving - or what we may think about those perceptions - is at all accurate.

What makes this situation so serious is that thought generally conceals this problems from our immediate awareness and succeeds in generating a sense that the way each of us interprets the world is the only sensible way in which it can be interpreted. What is needed is a means by which we can slow down the process of thought in order to be able to observe it while it is actually occurring.

Our physical bodies have this capability but thought seems to lack it. If you raise your arm you know that you are willing the act, that somebody else is not doing it for or to you. This is called proprioception. We can be aware of our body's actions while they are actually occurring but we generally lack this sort of skill in the realm of thought. For example, we do not notice that our attitude toward another person may be profoundly affected by the way we think and feel about someone else who might share certain aspects of his behavior or even of his appearance. Instead, we assume that our attitude toward her arises directly from her actual conduct. The problem of thought is that the kind of attention required to notice this incoherence seems seldom to be available when it is most needed.

Why dialogue

Dialogue is concerned with providing a space within which such attention can be given. It allows a display of thought and meaning that makespossible a kind of collective proprioception or immediate mirroring back of both the content of thought and the less apparent, dynamic structures that govern it. In Dialogue this can be experienced both individually and collectively. Each listener is able to reflect back to each speaker, and to the rest of the group, a view of some of the assumptions and unspoken implications of what is being expressed along with that which is being avoided. It creates the opportunity for each participant to examine the preconceptions, prejudices and the characteristic patterns that lie behind his or her thoughts, opinions, beliefs and feelings, along with the roles he or she tends habitually to play. And it offers an opportunity to share these insights.

The word "dialogue" derives from two roots: "dia" which means "through" and "logos" which means "the word", or more particularly, "the meaning of the word." The image it gives is of a river of meaning flowing around and through the participants. Any number of people can engage in Dialogue - one can even have a Dialogue with oneself - but the sort of Dialogue that we are suggesting involves a group of between twenty and forty people seated in a circle talking together.

Some notion of the significance of such a Dialogue can be found in reports of hunter-gather bands of about this size, who, when they met to talk together, had no apparent agenda nor any predetermined purpose. Nevertheless, such gatherings seemed to provide and reinforce a kind of cohesive bond or fellowship that allowed its participants to know what was required of them without the need for instruction or much further verbal interchange. In other words, what might be called a coherent culture of shared meaning emerged within the group. It is possible that this coherence existed in the past for human communities before technology began to mediate our experience of the living world.

Dr. Patrick de Mare, a psychiatrist working in London, has conducted pioneering work along similar lines under modern conditions. He set up groups of about the same size, the purpose of which he described in terms of "sociotherapy". His view is that the primary cause of the deep and pervasive sickness in our society can be found at the socio-cultural level and that such groups can serve as micro-cultures from which the source of the infirmity of our large civilization can be exposed. Our experience has led us to extend this notion of Dialogue by emphasizing and giving special attention to the fundamental role of the activity of thought in the origination and maintenance of this condition.

As a microcosm of the large culture, Dialogue allows a wide spectrum of possible relationships to be revealed. It can disclose the impact of society on the individual and the individual's impact on society. It can display how power is assumed or given away and how pervasive are the generally unnoticed rules of the system that constitutes our culture. But it is most deeply concerned with understanding the dynamics of how thought conceives such connections.

It is not concerned with deliberately trying to alter or change behavior nor to get the participants to move toward a predetermined goal. Any such attempt would distort and obscure the processes that the Dialogue has set out to explore. Nevertheless, changes do occur because observed thought behaves differently from unobserved thought. Dialogue can thus become an opportunity for thought and feeling to play freely in a continuously of deeper or more general meaning. Any subject can be included and no content is excluded. Such an activity is very rare in our culture.

Purpose and meaning

Usually people gather either to accomplish a task or to be entertained, both of which can be categorized as predetermined purposes. But by its very nature Dialogue is not consistent with any such purposes beyond the interest of its participants in the unfoldment and revelation of the deeper collective meanings that may be revealed. These may on occasion be entertaining, enlightening, lead to new insights or address existing problems. But surprisingly, in its early stages, the dialogue will often lead to the experience of frustration.

A group of people invited to give their time and serious attention to a task that has no apparent goal and is not being led in any detectable direction may quickly find itself experiencing a great deal of anxiety or annoyance. This can lead to the desire on the part of some, either to break up the group or to attempt to take control and give it a direction. Previously unacknowledged purposes will reveal themselves. Strong feelings will be exposed, along with the thoughts that underlie them. Fixed positions may be taken and polarization will often result. This is all part of the process. It is what sustains the Dialogue and keeps it constantly extending creatively into new domains.

In an assembly of between twenty and forty people, extremes of frustration, anger, conflict or other difficulties may occur, but in a group of this size such problems can be contained with relative ease. In fact, they can become the central focus of the exploration in what might be understood as a kind of "meta-dialogue", aimed at clarifying the process of Dialogue itself.

As sensitivity and experience increase, a perception of shared meaning emerges in which people find that they are neither opposing one another, nor are they simply interacting. Increasing trust between members of the group - and trust in the process itself - leads to the expression of the sorts of thoughts and feelings that are usually kept hidden. There is no imposed consensus, nor is there any attempt to avoid conflict. No single individual or sub-group is able to achieve dominance because every single subject, including domination and submission, is always available to beconsidered.

Participants find that they are involved in an ever changing and developing pool of common meaning. A shared content of consciousness emerges which allows a level of creativity and insight that is not generally available to individuals or to groups that interact in more familiar ways. This reveals an aspect of Dialogue that Patrick de Mare has called koinonia, a word meaning "impersonal fellowship", which was originally used to describe the early form of Athenian democracy in which all the free men of the city gathered to govern themselves.

As this fellowship is experience it begins to take precedence over the more overt content of the conversation (sic). It is an important stage in the Dialogue, a moment of increased coherence, where the group is able to move beyond its perceived blocks or limitations and into new territory, But it is also a point at which a group may begin to relax and bask in the "high" that accompanies the experience. This is the point that sometimes causes confusion between Dialogue and some forms of psychotherapy. Participants may want to hold the group together in order to preserve the pleasurable feeling of security and belonging that accompanies the state. This is similar to that sense of community often reached in therapy groups or in team building workshops where it is taken to be the evidence of the success of the method used. Beyond such a point, however, lie even more significant and subtle realms of creativity, intelligence and understanding that can be approached only by persisting in the process of inquiry and risking re-entry into areas of potentially chaotic or frustrating uncertainty.

What dialogue is not

Dialogue is not discussion, a word that shares its root meaning with "percussion" and "concussion," both of which involve breaking things up. Nor is it debate. These forms of conversation contain an implicit tendency to point toward a goal, to hammer out an agreement, to try to solve a problem or have one's opinion prevail. It is also not a "salon", which is a kind of gathering that is both informal and most often characterized by an intention to entertain, exchange friendship, gossip and other information. Although the word "dialogue" has often been used in similar ways, its deeper, root meaning implies that it is not primarily interested in any of this.

Dialogue is not a new name for T-groups or sensitivity training, although it is superficially similar to these and other related forms of group work. Its consequences may be psychotherapeutic but it does not attempt to focus on removing the emotional blocks of any one participant nor to teach, train or analyze. Nevertheless, it is an arena in which learning and the dissolution of blocks can and often do take place. It is not a technique for problem solving or conflict resolution, although problems may well be resolved during the course of a Dialogue, or perhaps later, as a result of increased understanding and fellowship that occurs among the participants. It is, as we have emphasized, primarily a means of exploring the field of thought.

Dialogue resembles a number of other forms of group activity and may at times include aspects of them but in fact it is something new to our culture. We believe that it is an activity that might well prove vital to the future health of our civilization.

Suspension. Suspension of thoughts, impulses, judgments, etc., lies at the very heartof Dialogue. It is one of its most important new aspects. It is not easily grasped because the activity is both unfamiliar and subtle. Suspension involves attention, listening and looking and is essential to exploration. Speaking is necessary, of course, for without it there would be little in the Dialogue to explore, But the actual process of exploration takes place during listening - not only to others but to oneself. Suspension involves exposing your reactions, impulses, feelings and opinions in such a way that they can be seen and felt within your own psyche and also be reflected back by others in the group. It does not mean repressing or suppressing or, even, postponing them. It means, simply, giving them your serious attention so that their structures can be noticed while they are actually taking place. If you are able to give attention to, say, the strong feelings that might accompany the expression of a particular thought - either your own or anothers - and to sustain that attention, the activity of the thought process will tend to slow you down. This may permit you to begin to see the deeper meanings underlying your thought process and to sense the often incoherent structure of any action that you might otherwise carry out automatically. Similarly, if a group is able to suspend such feelings and give its attention to them then the overall process that flows from thought, to feeling, to acting-out within the group, can also slow down and reveal its deeper, more subtle meanings along with any of its implicit distortions, leading to what might be described as a new kind of coherent, collective intelligence.

To suspend thought, impulse, judgment, etc., requires serious attention to the overall process we have been considering - both on one's own and within a group. This involves what may at first appear to be an arduous kind of work. But if this work is sustained, one's ability to give such attention constantly develops so that less and less effort is required.

Numbers. A Dialogue works best with between twenty and forty people seated facing one another in a single circle. A group of this size allows for the emergence and observation of different subgroups or subcultures that can help to reveal some off the ways in which thought operatives collectively.,This is important because the differences between such subcultures areoften an unrecognized cause of failed communication and conflict. Smaller groups, on the other hand, lack the requisite diversity needed to reveal these tendencies and will generally emphasize more familiar personal and family roles and relationships.

With a few groups we have had as many as sixty participants, but with that large a number the process becomes unwieldy. Two concentric circles are required to seat everybody so that they can see and hear one another. This places those in the back row at a disadvantage, and fewer participants have an opportunity to speak.

We might mention here that some participants tend to talk a great deal while others find difficulty in speaking up in groups. It is worth remembering, though, that the word "participation" has two meanings: "to partake of", and "to take part in". Listening is at least as important as speaking. Often the quieter participants will begin to speak up more as they become familiar with the Dialogue experience while the more dominant individuals will find themselves tending to speak less and listen more.

Duration. A Dialogue needs some time to get going. It is an unusual way of participating with others and some sort of introduction is required in which the meaning of the whole activity can be communicated. But even with a clear introduction, when the group begins to talk together it will often experience confusion, frustration, and a self-conscious concern as to whether or not it is actually engaging in Dialogue. It would be very optimistic to assume that a Dialogue would begin to flow or move toward any great depth during its first meeting. It is important to point out that perseverance is required.

In setting up Dialogues it is useful at the start to agree the length of the session and for someone to take responsibility for calling time at the end. We have found that about two hours is optimum. Longer sessions risk a fatigue factor which tends to diminish the quality of participation. Many T-groups use extended "marathon" sessions which use this fatigue factor to break down some of the inhibitions of the participants. Dialogue on the other hand, is more concerned with exploring the social constructs and inhibitions that affect our communications rather than attempting to bypass them.

The more regularly the group can meet, the deeper and more meaningful will be the territory explored. Weekends have often been used to allow a sequence of sessions, but if the Dialogue is to continue for an extended period of time we suggest that there be at least a one week interval between each succeeding session to allow time for individual reflection and further thinking. There is no limit to how long a Dialogue group may continue its exploration. But it would be contrary to the spirit of Dialogue for it to become fixed or institutionalized. This suggests openess to constantly shifting membership, changing schedules, or other manifestations of a serious attention to an implicit rigidity which might take hold. Or merely, the dissolving of a group after some period.

Leadership. A Dialogue is essentially a conversation between equals. Any controlling authority, no matter how carefully or sensitively applied, will tend to hinder and inhibit the free play of thought and the often delicate and subtle feelings that would otherwise be shared. Dialogue is vulnerable to being manipulated, but its spirit is not consistent with this. Hierarchy has no place in Dialogue.

Nevertheless, in the early stages some guidance is required to help the participants realize the subtle differences between Dialogue and other forms of group process. At least one or, preferably two, experienced facilitators are essential. Their role should be to occasionally point out situations that might seem to be presenting sticking points for the group, in other words, to aid the process of collective proprioception, but these interventions should never be manipulative nor obtrusive. Leaders are participants just like everybody else. Guidance, when it is felt to be necessary, should take the form of "leading from behind" and preserve the intention of making itself redundant as quickly as possible.

However, this proposal is not intended as a substitute for experienced facilitators. We suggest, though, that its contents be reviewed with the group during its initial meeting so that all the participants can be satisfied that they are embarking upon the same experiment.

Subject matter. The Dialogue can begin with any topic of interest to the participants. if some members of the group feel that certain exchanges or subjects are disturbing or not fitting, it is important that they express these thoughts within the Dialogue. No content should be excluded.

Often participants will gossip or express their dissatisfactions or frustration after a session but it is exactly this sort of material that offers the most fertile ground for moving the Dialogue into deeper realms of meaning and coherence beyond the superficiality of "group think", good manners or dinner party conversation.

Dialogue in existing organizations

So far we have been primarily discussing Dialogues that bring together individuals from a variety of backgrounds rather than from existing organizations. But its value may also be perceived by members of an organization as a way of increasing and enriching their own corporate creativity.

In this case the process of Dialogue will change considerably. Members of an existing organization will have already developed a number of different sorts of relationship between one another and with their organization as a whole. here may be a pre-existing hierarchy or a felt need to protect one's colleagues, team or department. There may be a fear of expressing thoughts that might be seen as critical of those who are higher in the organization or of norms within the organizational culture. Careers or the social acceptance of individual members might appear to be threatened by participation in a process that emphasizes transparency, openness, honesty, spontaneity, and the sort of deep interest in others that can draw out areas of vulnerability that may long have been kept hidden.

In an existing organization the Dialogue will very probably have to begin with an exploration of all the doubts and fears that participation will certainly raise. Members may have to begin with a fairly specific agenda from which they eventually can be encouraged to diverge. This differs from the approach taken with one-time or self-selected groupings in which participants are free to begin with any subject matter. But as we have mentioned no content should be excluded because the impulse to exclude a subject is itself rich material for the inquiry.

Most organizations have inherent, predetermined purposes and goals that are seldom questioned. At first this might also seem to be inconsistent with the free and open play of thought that is so intrinsic to the Dialogue process. However, this too can be overcome if the participants are helped from the very beginning to realize that considerations of such subjects can prove essential to the well-being of the organization and can in turn help to increase the participants self-esteem along with the regard in which he or she may be held by others.

The creative potential of Dialogue is great enough to allow a temporary suspension of any of the structures and relationships that go to make up an organization.

Finally, we would like to make clear that we are not proposing Dialogue as a panacea nor as a method or technique designed to succeed all other forms of social interaction. Not everyone will find it useful nor, certainly, will it be useful in all contexts. There is great value to be found in many group psychotherapeutic methods and there are many tasks that require firm leadership and a well-formed organizational structure.

Much of the sort of work we have described here can be accomplished independently, and we would encourage this. Many of the ideas suggested in this proposal are still the subjects of our own continuing exploration. We do not advise that they be taken as fixed but rather that they be inquired into as a part of your own Dialogue.

The spirit of Dialogue is one of free play, a sort of collective dance of the mind that, nevertheless, has immense power and reveals coherent purpose. Once begun it becomes continuing adventure that can open the way to significant and creative change.

Copyright notice

Copyright © 1991 by David Bohm, Donald Factor and Peter Garrett

The copyright holders hereby give permission to copy this material and to distribute it to others for non-commercial purposes including discussion, inquiry, criticism and as an aid to setting up Dialogue groups so long as the material is not altered and this notice is included. All other rights are reserved.

If you will read the copyright notice on Dialogue - A Proposal (reproduced above) you will see that we are keen to get its message as widely distributed as possible. So if there are any listservers or FTP or WWW sites that it would be useful on, please put it out. We would like to know where it ends up if that's possible. We do want to keep the copyright notice intact because it makes the point that it not to be used without express permission for any commercial purposes.

This text was transcribed by Richard Burg. email: rbpublic@sonic.net

The picture of David Bohm has been reproduced under a Creative Commons licence, and was sourced from Wikipedia Commons and http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/science/sc-pruyn.htm.

Last Updated on October 18, 2019 by infed.org

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contents: dialogue - a proposal · why dialogue · purpose and meaning · what dialogue is not · how to start a dialogue · dialogue in existing organizations · copyright notice Jidhu Krishnamurti . They carried on an intensive dialogue over many years ranging over the ultimate meaning and nature of thought, insight, existence, death, truth, reality, intelligence...

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Dialogue and conversation for learning, education and change. 'Dialogue', Freire says, 'is the encounter between men, mediated by the world, in order to name the world'. Here we explore this idea - and its roots.

Contents: introduction · Gadamer - horizons of understanding · emotions and virtues · Habermas: dialogue, power and distortion · Bohm on dialogue · dialogue and conversation for learning, education and change · conclusion · further reading · how to reference this piece

Conversation and dialogue are not simply the means that educators and animators use, but are also what educators and animators should seek to cultivate in local life. They may be approached as relationships to enter rather than simply as methods. We focus on the thinking of four people in particular:

Paulo Freire - with whom the notion of dialogue has been linked as an educational form;

Hans-Georg Gadamer - the philosopher who uses the metaphor of conversation to think about how we may come to understand the subject matter at issue; and

Jürgen Habermas - the social theorist who argues for the need for 'ideal speech situations' in fostering both understanding and a humane collective life.'[A] humane collective life', he said (1985: 82), 'depends on vulnerable forms of innovation-bearing, reciprocal and unforcedly egalitarian everyday communication'.

David Bohm - the eminent physicist and friend of Krishnamurti, whose example and practical proposals for dialogue have met a response from a number of different areas - but particularly those, like Peter Senge, who are concerned with organizational development.

Martin Buber has also made a significant contribution to the appreciation of encounter and dialogue in education.

Gadamer - horizons of understanding

I want to begin by approaching conversation as a way of coming to an understanding (sometimes called a dialogic structure of understanding). This particular way of approaching matters is linked to the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer. He describes conversation thus:

[It] is a process of two people understanding each other. Thus it is a characteristic of every true conversation that each opens himself to the other person, truly accepts his point of view as worthy of consideration and gets inside the other to such an extent that he understands not a particular individual, but what he says. The thing that has to be grasped is the objective rightness or otherwise of his opinion, so that they can agree with each other on a subject. (Gadamer 1979: 347)

In conversation, knowledge is not a fixed thing or commodity to be grasped. It is not something 'out there' waiting to be discovered. Rather, it is an aspect of a process. It arises out of interaction. The metaphor that Gadamer uses is that of the horizon. He argues that we each bring prejudices (or pre-judgments) to encounters. We have, what he calls, our own 'horizon of understanding'. This is 'the range of vision that includes everything that can be see from a particular vantage point' (ibid: 143). With these pre-judgments and understandings we involve ourselves in what is being said. In conversation we try to understand a horizon that is not our own in relation to our own. We have to put our own prejudices (pre-judgments) and understandings to the test. 'Only by seeking to learn from the 'other', only by fully grasping its claims upon one can it be critically encountered' (Bernstein 1991: 4). We have to open ourselves to the full power of what the 'other' is saying. 'Such an opening does not entail agreement but rather the to-and-fro play of dialogue' (op cit). We seek to discover other peoples' standpoint and horizon. By so doing their ideas become intelligible, without our necessarily having to agree with them (Gadamer 1979: 270), we can come to terms with the other (Crowell 1990: 358).

The concern is not to 'win the argument', but to advance understanding and human well being. Agreement cannot be imposed, but rests on common conviction (Habermas 1984: 285-287). In this, the understanding we bring from the past is tested in encounters with the present and forms what we take into the future (Louden 1991: 106). We experience a 'fusion of horizons'.

The horizon of the present is being continually formed, in that we have continually to test all our prejudices. An important part of that testings is the encounter with the past and the understanding of the tradition from which we come... In a tradition this process of fusion is continually going on, for there old and new continually grow together to make something of living value, without either being explicitly distinguished from the other. (Gadamer 1979: 273)

Whether 'fusion' is quite the right word is a matter of debate. It does not quite fit the 'ruptures that dis-turb our attempts to reconcile different ethical-political horizons' (Bernstein 1991: 10). However, what we do know is that in that 'moment' our own horizon is enriched and we gain knowledge of ourselves.

Emotions and virtues

For there to be dialogue in the dictionary or etymologically sense we look to dia meaning two or between or across and logos speech or 'what is talked about'. Dialogue is , thus, speech across, between or through two people. It entails a particular kind of relationship and interaction. In this sense it is not so much a specific communicative form of question and answer, 'but at heart a kind of social relation that engages its participants' (Burbules 1993: 19). It entails certain virtues and emotions. Burbules lists some of these:

concern. In being with our partners in conversation, to engage them with us, there is more going on than talk about the overt topic. There is a social bond that entails interest in, and a commitment to the other.

trust. We have to take what others are saying on faith - and there can be some risk in this.

respect. While there may be large differences between partners in conversation, the process can go on if there is mutual regard. This involves the idea that everyone is equal in some basic way and entails a commitment to being fair-minded, opposing degradation and rejecting exploitation.

appreciation. Linked to respect, this entails valuing the unique qualities that others bring.

affection. Conversation involves a feeling with, and for, our partners.

hope. While not being purely emotional, hope is central. We engage in conversation in the belief that it holds possibility. Often it is not clear what we will gain or learn, but faith in the inherent value of education carries us forward.

So it is, Martin Buber believed, that real educators teach most successfully when they are not consciously trying to teach at all, but when they act spontaneously out of their own life. 'Then he can gain the pupil's confidence; he can convince the adolescent that there is human truth, that existence has a meaning. And when the pupil's confidence has been won, 'his resistance against being educated gives way to a singular happening: he accepts the educator as a person. He feels he may trust this man, that this man is taking part in his life, accepting him before desiring to influence him. And so he learns to ask....' (Hodes 1972: 137).

Habermas: conversation, power and distortion

As soon as we think about what is required for a conversation - mutual trust, respect, a willingness to listen and risk one's opinions - we can see that we have 'a powerful regulative ideal that can orient our practical and political lives' (Bernstein 1983: 163). This regulative ideal is what Habermas calls an 'ideal speech situation'. This is a situation that where each has an effective equality of chances to take part in dialogue; where dialogue is unconstrained and not distorted. What the idea of an ideal speech situation does is to provide us with some ways of identifying and exploring the distortions that exist. Is it the case, as Freire suggests, that dialogue cannot occur between those who want to name the world, and those who do not want this naming; or between those who have been denied the right to speak, and those who deny the right (Freire 1972: 61)?

Writers such as Gadamer can be criticized for not fully addressing how great inequalities in power condition dialogue; or how the meanings of the words we use can be systematically distorted. This is certainly a point that Habermas took up with Gadamer in a famous series of exchanges. Dialogue does not require egalitarian relationships but is does entail some sort of reciprocity and symmetry. Otherwise the response we may make could be distorted by the concern that what we say may be used against us by the more powerful 'partner'. Furthermore, we have to recognize that the language we have to use is itself limited and populated, in Baktin's words, by other people's intentions. Meanings associated with words can dispose to this understanding or that

Yet, problems of ideology and distortion can be addressed - hegemony can never be complete. In the movement of social relations, actions and ideas still have to be justified, people have to talk and be convinced. For as long as people require others to do their bidding, or to join with them in some enterprise, there has to be conversation, otherwise they cannot hope to fully achieve their aims. For subordinated groups the room for manoeuvre here may be small for much of the time, but in any system there are moments of crisis and dysfunction where voice takes on new meaning and levers can be placed under oppressors' positions.

Once there is conversation there is hope. As Habermas argues, in dialogue there is a 'gentle but obstinate, a never silent although seldom redeemed claim to reason' (Habermas 1979: 3) (what Goffman calls the requirement to demonstrate sanity). However distorted our ways of communicating are, there is within their structures a 'stubbornly transcending power' (Habermas 1979: 3).

When we assert a belief that we hold, we also offer an implied promise to provide at least some of the evidence and reasons behind that belief, if asked. We may not be asked; we may not be able to provide those reasons fully; and we may not convince others if we do - but by making the assertion we commit ourselves to that broader obligation. (Burbules 1993: 75)

The claims each and every statement has to make as to its own validity hold some possibility of dialogue and hence of furthering understanding.

Bohm on dialogue

David Bohm (1917-1992) was a distinguished physicist best known for his work on the fundamentals of quantum theory and relativity theory and their implications for other fields. His approach was distinctive: he saw science as 'a quest for truth, and, in this spirit, he unpacked and revealed the epistemological foundations of science (in his study of order), and he utilized these insights to conceive a profound ontological hypothesis (the holomovement and implicate orders)' (Keepin 1993). We do not need to go into the detail of this here, but we should note that he sees 'reality' as involving 'unbroken wholeness in flowing movement'. Thought could be seen largely as a collective phenomenon: 'As with electrons, we must look on thought as a systematic phenomena arising from how we interact and discourse with another (quoted by Senge 1990: 240). Will Keepin (1995) comments, 'what is remarkable about Bohm's hypothesis is that is it also consistent with spiritual wisdom down through the ages'.

This orientation allowed him to enter into a well-known dialogue (and friendship) with Jidhu Krishnamurti. Their explorations ranged widely including why humanity has made thought so important, cleansing the mind of 'accumulation of time', breaking the pattern of ego-centred activity and the wrong turn humanity has taken (Krishnamurti and Bohm 1985). One important outcome of this collaboration was David Bohm's continuing interest in the cultivation of dialogue itself as a path to greater wisdom and learning.

Dialogue, as we are choosing to use the word, is a way of exploring the roots of the many crises that face humanity today. It enables inquiry into, and understanding of, the sorts of processes that fragment and interfere with real communication between individuals, nations and even different parts of the same organization. In our modern culture men and women are able to interact with one another in many ways: they can sing dance or play together with little difficulty but their ability to talk together about subjects that matter deeply to them seems invariable to lead to dispute, division and often to violence. In our view this condition points to a deep and pervasive defect in the process of human thought. (Bohm, Factor and Garrett 1991)

We are dealing with Dialogue with a capital 'D' here. Dialogue is set against discussion. 'A key difference between a dialogue and an ordinary discussion is that, within the latter people usually hold relatively fixed positions and argue in favour of their views as they try to convince others to change. At best this may produce agreement or compromise, but it does not give rise to anything creative' (Bohm and Peat 1987: 241). 'The purpose of dialogue', David Bohm suggests, 'is to reveal the incoherence in our thought'. In so doing it becomes possible to discover or re-establish a 'genuine and creative collective consciousness'. The process of dialogue is a process of 'awakening', it entails a free flow of meaning among all the participants:

In the beginning, people were expressing fixed positions, which they were tending to defend, but later it became clear that to maintain the feeling of friendship in the group was much more important than to hold any position. Such friendship has an impersonal quality in the sense that its establishment does not depend on a close personal relationship between participants. A new kind of mind thus beings to come into being which is based on the development of a common meaning that is constantly transforming in the process of the dialogue. People are no longer primarily in opposition, nor can they be said to be interacting, rather they are participating in this pool of common meaning which is capable of constant development and change. In this development the group has no pre-established purpose, though at each moment a purpose that is free to change may reveal itself. The group thus begins to engage in a new dynamic relationship in which no speaker is excluded, and in which no particular content is excluded. Thus far we have only begun to explore the possibilities of dialogue in the sense indicated here, but going further along these lines would open up the possibility of transforming not only the relationship between people, but even more, the very nature of consciousness in which these relationships arise. (Bohm 1987: 175)

We can see some well-trodden themes here - such as the exploratory nature of the process, its unpredictability and the extent to which we are led by it, rather than us leading it. As Bohm et. al. (1991) put it, 'no firm rules can be laid down for conducting a Dialogue because its essence is learning... as part of an unfolding process of creative participation between peers'.

David Bohm sets out three basic conditions for Dialogue:

Participants must suspend their assumptions. 'What is essential here is the presence of the spirit of dialogue, which is in short, the ability to hold many points of view in suspension, along with a primary interest in the creation of common meaning' (Bohm and Peat 1987: 247). Suspending an assumption does not mean ignoring it, but rather 'holding it in front of us' ready for exploration. (This links very closely with Gadamer's view of pre-judgements).

Participants must view each other as colleagues or peers. Dialogue occurs when people appreciate that they are involved in a mutual quest for understanding and insight. 'A Dialogue is essentially a conversation between equals' (Bohm et. al. 1991).

In the early stages there needs to be a facilitator who 'holds the context' of dialogue. 'Their role should be to occasionally point out situations that might seem to be presenting sticking points for the group, in other words, to aid the process of collective proprioception, but these interventions should never be manipulative nor obtrusive' (Bohm et. al. 1991). They continue, 'guidance, when it is felt to be necessary, should take the form of "leading from behind" and preserve the intention of making itself redundant as quickly as possible'.

He and his associates also make some concrete suggestions concerning the size of groups involved in Dialogue (around 20-40 people), and the duration of the process (it takes some time to get going).

David Bohm's linkage of dialogue with the possibilities of glimpsing a deeper order in things, and of connecting with 'unbroken wholeness in flowing movement' is very reminiscent of Martin Buber's account of the possibilities of encounter between 'man and man'. The recognition of the need for facilitation also has some echoes in Buber's belief in the need for a 'builder' in communities.

A significant factor in the appeal of Bohm's vision was the promise that Dialogue could increase and enrich corporate activity - in part through the exploration and questioning of 'inherent, predetermined purposes and goals' (Bohm et. al. 1991). There was a clear parallel here with Argyris and Schön's work on double-loop learning, but interestingly one of his associates has subsequently suggested that their view was too optimistic: 'dialogue is very subversive' (Factor 1994).

No organization wants to be subverted. No organization exists to be dissolved. An organization is, by definition a conservative institution. If you didn't want to conserve something, why would you organize? Even if an organization runs into serious trouble - if, perhaps, its market or reason for existence vanishes - there remains a tremendous resistance to change. (And, by the way, our larger culture is also an organization.) I suggest that the most one can hope for is a change in the more superficial elements which would naturally occur as an organization co-opts ... some of dialogue's ethic of inquiry. And maybe that is all that is required to accomplish its aims. But any deeper change, any change that might threaten the very meaning and therefore the existence of the organization or its power relations would tend to be rejected - perhaps subtly and tacitly - because such vulnerability would not only be threatening to those within the group, but almost certainly to those who perceive from without - perhaps from higher up the corporate ladder - what this subgrouping of their organization is getting up to. (Factor 1994)

The presentation of clear guidelines, the publication of actual dialogues, and Bohm's social and spiritual concern struck a chord. It led to the his work being used by a number of key writers especially around organizational development e.g. Senge (1990), to the formation of groups to engage in 'Bohmian dialogue' (and a thriving web community), and a Dialogue Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His particular innovation was to link Dialogue into a view of 'reality' as involving 'unbroken wholeness in flowing movement'.

Dialogue and conversation

I want to finish by putting dialogue and conversation side by side. For much of the time as local educators we are talking in an everyday way about children, television, school, the lack of things to do. What we might readily identify as 'conversation'. It all seems a bit pale when compared with the process Freire (1972) describes as dialogue. Through dialogue people are supposed to create new understandings which are 'explicitly critical and aimed at action, wherein those who were formally illiterate now begin to reject their role as mere "objects" in nature and social history and undertake to become "subjects" of their own destiny" (Goulet 1974: viii).

Yet we overlook two aspects here at our peril. First, the very fact that much of the subject matter is the stuff of everyday life means there always is the possibility of unmasking the taken-for-granted. We can ask why things are as they are in relationships; or why is it that there is so little provision in a neighbourhood. Second, and crucially, conversation like dialogue is, at heart, 'a kind of social relation that engages its participants' (Burbules 1993: 19). The act of engaging with another - whatever the subject matter - is significant in itself. The process entails the same virtues and emotions such as concern, trust, respect, appreciation, affection and hope (ibid: 36-46).

We should, therefore, not make too much of the differences between conversation and dialogue. In common sense terms dialogue could be seen as a form of conversation - a particular 'serious' format. For us as informal and community educators a focus on conversation rather than dialogue is, perhaps, more useful. First, most workers I do not, for the most part, describe their interactions in terms of dialogue. Instead we use words like talk, chat and conversation. At this basic level it is perhaps useful to stay as close to worker's vocabulary as possible.

Second, when we analyze the types of activities that informal and community educators are involved in, the word conversation seems appropriate and to allow the necessary fluidity. Describing an exchange about the state of the kitchen or the price of children's clothes as dialogue sounded rather pretentious. It is more comfortable to talk about different forms of conversation: some were 'passing', some were 'playful', some were 'serious'. One tends to flow into another - they were, in effect, changing conversations.

Third, I do not want to privilege too strongly 'serious conversation'. Yes, local educators engage in activities directed towards discovery and new understanding (what Burbules 1993: 8 describes as 'dialogue'), but they are also concerned with being and belonging. Here, seemingly trivial exchanges are of central importance and if neglected lead to major problems. Dialogue in the sense that Freire uses the term is only one element of the work local educators do. We should remember that Freire's pedagogy was constructed around formal educational situations. While Freire may not have been originally concerned with schooling, but with the less structured world of 'non-formal' education, the educational encounters he explores remain formal Torres (1993: 127). They remain curriculum-based and entail transforming settings into a particular type of pedagogical space.

There is a special danger here of unthinking application - that of the pedagogization or 'schooling' of the everyday (Street and Street 1991). As we have seen informal educators do not make use of a formal curriculum for much of their work. They work in settings not usually associated with education. Much of their conversation, as a result, is not immediately distinguishable from what might be said between friends or neighbours. This is the way it has to be - if they attempt to problematize things that are said in the way they might in a classroom or in some formal session, they would soon be shunned. They have to work within the boundaries set by 'daily round' to make openings for conversation.

In conclusion

Cultivating conversation lies at the centre of what informal educators do. It is not simply the form that their work takes, but also part of their purpose. Through conversation, testing out prejudices (prejudgments), searching out meaning, we become more critical. Language, discourse 'exists not for the sake of expression alone but for the sake of the community it makes possible among those who become parties to it' (Gunn 1992: 90). We become better able to name our feelings and thoughts, and place ourselves in the world. We can develop a language of critique and possibility which allows us to act (Giroux 1989: 208). We may even to be able, as Martin Buber would have put it, to glimpse God in our encounters, or to catch the collective consciousness (Bohm 1997).

Recommended reading

Here I have tried to include a mix of texts - some of which deal with the everyday world of conversation, some with the practicalities of education and dialogue, and yet still others that explore the philosophical and political significance of conversation and dialogue. The choice is rich - and there were plenty of other texts that I could have included.

Bohm, D., Factor, D. and Garrett, P. (1991) 'Dialogue - a proposal', the informal education archives. David Bohm's championship of dialogue as a means of going beyond individual understanding has been influential in a number of circles. This 1991 paper sets out the main elements of his thinking and the mechanics of his approach. See, also, Bohm, D. (1997) On dialogue edited by Lee Nichol, London: Routledge.

Burbules, N. (1993) Dialogue in Teaching. Theory and practice, New York: Teachers College Press. 184 + xviii pages. Detailed and important exploration of the subject area. Chapters on why dialogue, why theory and practice?; the dialogical relation; playing the dialogue game; rules in the dialogue game; moves in the dialogue game; types of dialogue; and why dialogues fail.

Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Harmondsworth: Penguin. 153 pages. Classic account of dialogical / transformative education. See, also, the 'talking book' - P. Freire and I. Shor (1987) A Pedagogy for Liberation. Dialogues on transforming education, London: Macmillan. 203 + xiii pages.

Gadamer, H-G. (1979) Truth and Method, London: Sheed and Ward. 552 + xvi pages. Brilliant discussion of conversation, understanding, hermeneutics and praxis. New edition now available. For a good introduction see the opening section of his (1976) Philosophical Hermeneutics, Berkeley: University of California Press. 243 + lviii pages.

Goffman, E. (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, London: Penguin. 251 pages. Views social encounters as a dramatic performance in which people use various props, and act in 'teams'. For an overall assessment and exposition of his work see T. Burns (1992) Erving Goffman, London: Routledge. 386 + viii pages. Another possibility is C. Lemert and A. Branamamn (eds.) The Goffman Reader, Oxford: Blackwell. 278 + lxxxi pages. With a couple of substantial and interesting pieces, this collection includes key extracts and some important articles such as 'The interaction order' and 'Felicity's condition'.

Habermas, J. (1984) The Theory of Communicative Action Volume 1, Cambridge: Polity Press. 463 + xxxix pages. Includes an important discussion of 'ideal speech situations' and communicative action. For an introduction, see M. Pusey (1987) Jürgen Habermas, London: Tavistock (now Routledge). 128 pages

Haroutinian-Gordon, S. (1991) Turning the Soul. Teaching through conversation in the high school, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Excellent discussion of the use of conversation in education.

Malone, M. J. (1997) Worlds of Talk. The presentation of self in everyday conversation, Cambridge: Polity. 182 + xiv pages. As the title suggests this book picks up on Erving Goffman's insights about the interaction order to our self-presentations in talk - the process of 'crafting our behaviour' so that it makes sense to others. Malone uses conversation analysis to discover how selves are 'created and transformed in everyday talk. There are chapters on the interactional order and the self; the foundations of interactionism; the construction of conversations; gender and talk; doing things with friends; and disagreements.

Mercer, N. (1995) The Guided Construction of Knowledge. Talk among teachers and learners, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 135 + ix pages. Focuses on the talk around people who help others to learn. Chapters examine ways of talking; guidance strategies; the learner's angle; a theory of practice; talking and working together; and teachers, researchers and the construction of knowledge.

Tannen, D. (1989) Talking Voices. Repetition, dialogue and imagery in conversational discourse, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 180 + xi pages. Any of Deborah Tannen's books are worth reading - but this book is a fascinating study of the rhythm and imagery of conversation. For a popular introduction see her (1992) That's Not What I Mean!, London: Virago; or (1992) You Just Don't Understand. Women and men in conversation, London: Virago. 330 pages.

Vella, J. (1994) Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach. The power of dialogue in educating adults, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 224 pages. Practical guide organized around 12 basic principles of adult learning that are supposed to transcend cultural differences.

Wardhaugh, R. (1985) How Conversation Works, Oxford: Blackwell. 230 pages. Still the best introduction to conversational process that I have come across. Chapters examine the social basis of talk; locating an agenda; co-operation and playing the game; beyond and behind words; context; getting started and keeping going; topics, turns and terminations; and requesting, informing, advising, agreeing, apologizing, promising.

Zeldin, T. (1998) Conversation: How Talk Can Change Your Life, London: Harvill Press. A short and somewhat quirky book that, nevertheless, manages to convey some of the trials and excitement of engaging in conversation, whether for pleasure, self-education or work. It is the text of a series of six talks broadcast by BBC Radio Four.

Other references

Bernstein, R. J. (1983) Beyond Objectivism and Relativism. Science, hermeneutics and praxis, Oxford: Blackwell.

Bernstein, R. J. (1991) The New Constellation. The ethical-political horizons of modernity/postmodernity, Cambridge: Polity.

Bohm, D. (1980) Wholeness and the implicate order. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul (New edition 1995, Routledge).

Bohm, D. (1987) Unfolding meaning: A weekend of dialogue with David Bohm, London: Ark. (Republished 1996 by Routledge)

Bohm, D. (1997) On dialogue edited by Lee Nichol, London: Routledge. (Extended version of 1990. On dialogue. Ojai, Calif.: David Bohm Seminars)

Bohm, D., and Peat, D. (1987) Science, order, and creativity, New York: Bantam.

Crowell, S. G. (1990) 'Dialogue and text: re-marking the difference' in T. Maranhao (ed.) The Interpretation of Dialogue, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Factor, D. (1994) On Facilitation and Purpose, http://www.muc.de/~heuvel/dialogue/facilitation_purpose.html

Giroux, H. A. (1983) Theory and Resistance in Education. A pedagogy for the opposition, London: Heinemann.

Habermas, J. (1979) Communication and the Evolution of Society (trans. T. McCarthy), London: Heinemann.

Hodes, A. (1972) Encounter with Martin Buber, London: Allen Lane/Penguin. 245 pages. (Also published as Martin Buber: An Intimate Portrait, Viking Press, New York, I971).

Keepin, W. (1991) Lifework of David Bohm - River of Truth, http://www.shavano.org/html/bohm.html

Krishnamurti, J. and Bohm, D. (1985) The Ending of Time, New York: HarperCollins

Louden, W. (1991) Understanding Teaching. Continuity and change in teacher's' knowledge, London: Cassell.

Peat, F. D. (1997) Infinite Potential. The life and times of David Bohm, Addison-Wesley.

Senge, P. (1990) The Fifth Discipline. The art and practice of the learning organization, London: Random House.

Smith, M. K. (1994) Local Education, Buckingham: Open University Press.

Taylor, P. V. (1993) The Texts of Paulo Freire, Buckingham: Open University Press.

Torres, C. A. (1993) 'From the Pedagogy of the Oppressed to A Luta Continua: the political pedagogy of Paulo Freire' in P. McLaren and P. Leonard (eds.) Freire. A critical encounter, London: Routledge.

Links

Selected Websites on Dialogue - listing by the Union of International Associations.

Acknowledgement: Picture: Conversation by timrb. Sourced from Flickr and reproduced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) licence. http://www.flickr.com/photos/55444602@N00/217448857/

How to reference this piece: Smith, M. K. (2001) 'Dialogue and conversation', The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. [ https://infed.org/mobi/dialogue-and-conversation/. Retrieved: enter date].

© Mark K. Smith 2001

Last Updated on June 20, 2013 by infed.org

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Dialogue and conversation for learning, education and change

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Contents: introduction · Gadamer - horizons of understanding · emotions and virtues · Habermas: dialogue, power and distortion · Bohm on dialogue · dialogue and conversation for learning, education and change · conclusion · further reading · how to reference this piece Conversation and dialogue are not simply the means that educators and animators use, but are also what educators and animators should seek to cultivate in local life.

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Sources of found footage in For the Curious
(in order of appearance)

Self interview, 2010

To Enrich Mankind, producer: Handy (Jam) Organization; sponsor: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1955

Book jacket: Isaiah Berlin, The Hedgehog and The Fox, London: George Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1957

Coney Island, USA, producer: Joseph Burstyn, Inc, 1952

The Hare and the Tortoise, Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, 1947

Hackney Gazette headline a-board, 2010

'Melton Mowbray: Hounds Hard and Horses Healthy', Pathé newsreel, 1930

Fox removal van, London 2010

To Enrich Mankind (1955); producer: Handy (Jam) Organization; sponsor: American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Dr. Frederick Cook, The Truth About The North Pole, 1912

Blake Edwards, The Pink Panther, 1963

Mel Brooks, Young Frankenstein, 1974

Vic Mallows, photograph of Rosemary, Grand Canyon, 1977

Gian Carlo Menotti, The Medium, 1951

Frontiers of the Future (A Screen Editorial With Lowell Thomas), 1937;
producer: Audio Productions, Inc. in collaboration with National Industrial Council; sponsor: National Industrial Council

What Makes a Fine Watch Fine?; producer: Handy (Jam) Organization; sponsor: Hamilton Watch Company, 1947

Jonathan Miller, Alice In Wonderland, Prod. BBC, 1966

Charles and Ray Eames, Copernicus, 1973

Robert Greenwald, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, 2004

Cabinet magazine's flag, 2009

Found photographs of Adam Smith, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein and Delina Rossa, photographers unknown

Pedro Almodóvar, Dark Habits, 1983

Frontiers of the Future (A Screen Editorial With Lowell Thomas), 1937

James Whale, Frankenstein, 1931

Federico Fellini, Roma, 1972

'Sophie Calle', Contacts 2; producer: Le Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, 1997

Norman Cohen, The London That Nobody Knows, 1967

Stevan M Smith, Smokejumpers: Firefighter From the Sky, 2000

Blake Edwards, The Pink Panther, 1963

Robin Hardy, The Wicker Man, 1973

Wonderful World; producer: Handy (Jam) Organization; sponsor: Coca-Cola, 1959

Werner Herzog, Wodaabe: Herdsmen of the Sun, 1989

Peter R. Hunt, Gulliver's Travels, 1977

'Monsieur Mangetout', Eccentricks, Journeyman TV, c. 2007

The Sir John Soane's Museum, London

Norman Cohen, The London That Nobody Knows, 1967

The walrus, The Horniman Museum, London

Pat Oleszko, Pat's Masterpiece, compilation dvd, 1971-2008

Buckminster Fuller Meets the Hippies, San Francisco, 1966 or 1968, director unknown

Let Us Break Bread Together; producer: Film Production Unit, Bureau of AV Instruction; sponsor: City of New York, Board of Education, 1954

Robert Greenwald, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, 2004

Chewing gum on a fence, London, 2010

The Shuttle, Boulevard Entertainment, 2007

'Grooming by Electricity', plate from Bertha Morris Parker, The Book of Electricity, Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1928.

Jacques Carelman, Catalogue of Extraordinary Objects, London: Abelard-Schuman, 1969

Jordan Baseman, Cactasia!, 2003

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Sources of found footage in For the Curious (in order of appearance) Self interview, 2010 To Enrich Mankind, producer: Handy (Jam) Organization; sponsor: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1955 Book jacket: Isaiah Berlin, The Hedgehog and The Fox, London: George Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1957 Coney Island, USA, producer: Joseph Burstyn,

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Group Meeting 22/1/21

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MAPPED: England and Wales’ toxic legacy landfills

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Environment Agency data seen and analysed by ENDS shows the locations of 1,287 of old landfill sites containing hazardous waste, which would pose a risk to human and health and the environment if it were to escape. The data also shows the locations of a further 413 sites whose contents remain unknown to the agency, due to their age and lack of documentation.
Click here to read ENDS' toxic landfill investigation in full.
Some of the landfills may have been removed where development has taken place, but the majority remain in place.
Click here to read more about how toxic landfill sites can harm the environment. MAPPED: England's healthiest and most polluted rivers
Scroll down for a map with additional detail.

Any errors in the locations of the landfills sites are errors originating in the Environment Agency dataset

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MAPPED: England and Wales' toxic legacy landfills

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Environment Agency data seen and analysed by ENDS shows the locations of 1,287 of old landfill sites containing hazardous waste, which would pose a risk to human and health and the environment if it were to escape. The data also shows the locations of a further 413 sites whose contents remain unknown to the agency, due to their age and lack of documentation.

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The fold in relation to how we may develop the work each other develops, whether material or textual. Frames of reference/multiple perspectives.

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Dance as derive?

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they shoot horses 2004 is a two channel colour video shown on two adjacent screens in a darkened room, featuring young people from Ramallah in Palestine dancing to a succession of pop songs. Each video was shot with a static camera in a single take lasting seven hours, and shows a small group of participants (three men and one woman in one video, and three women and two men in the other) dancing in a community centre, often with great energy and enthusiasm, against a deep pink wall with two orange horizontal stripes running across it. The music is synchronised so that the same songs - consisting of Western pop music of different styles from the 1960s to the 2000s - play at the same time in each video. Although there are no standard breaks in the music for the protagonists to rest, some dancers do occasionally sit or slump on the floor, and the performances are also intermittently interrupted by power cuts and calls to prayer. This work is the third in an edition of three plus one artist's proof.

In March 2004 the British artist Phil Collins advertised in Ramallah for people willing to be involved in this project, and subsequently held auditions for performers. He then filmed two separate groups of young people, each of whom were paid to dance constantly over the course of one day. Both groups danced for eight hours in total, but after one hour-long videotape was seized by Israeli authorities, Collins created two seven hour videos.

The title of the work refers to the American author Horace McCoy's 1935 novel They Shoot Horses, Don't They, which was adapted into a film in 1969 directed by Sydney Pollack, and features a dance marathon held during the Great Depression in the United States. The phrase evokes pity for the contestants who have to endure the competition in order to earn money, suggesting that they are treated worse than animals. Collins's choice of title seems to offer a humorous and perhaps sympathetic comment on his performers, who continue to dance to upbeat songs despite their evident exhaustion.

they shoot horses may be viewed as a form of portraiture, capturing the changing emotions of the dancers over the course of one arduous day. As the critic Liz Kolz pointed out in 2007, 'We have never met these young people, but after a while we feel as if we know them intimately: the cheerleadery girl with long earrings and athletic clothes, the tired girl, the handsome aloof guy. As fatigue takes its toll, their efforts appear alternatively tragic and comic, heroic and heartbreaking' (Kolz 2007, p.61).

This work may also be assessed in relation to its political and geographical context and to the global reach of Western culture. In emphasising the participants' enjoyment of pop music, the videos might be seen to challenge stereotypical characterisations that define young Palestinians purely in terms of the Israel-Palestine conflict. As the art historian Claire Bishop has explained:

By voiding the work of direct political narrative, Collins demonstrates how swiftly this space is filled by fantasies generated by the media's selective production and dissemination of images from the Middle East (since the typical Western viewer seems condemned to view young Arabs either as victims or as medieval fundamentalists). By using pop music as familiar to Palestinian as to Western teens, Collins also provides a commentary on globalization that is considerably more nuanced than most activist-oriented political art.
(Bishop 2006, p.182.)

Over the course of his career, Collins - who has travelled extensively, especially to areas often associated with conflict (such as Belfast, Baghdad and Belgrade) - has created videos, taken photographs and orchestrated performances exploring how cultural identities are formed. Following the completion of they shoot horses he began work on a trilogy of videos called the world won't listen 2004-7, which features people in Colombia, Turkey and Indonesia performing karaoke versions of songs by the British band The Smiths.

While Liz Kolz has argued that Collins's videos exploring repetitive tasks and feats of bodily endurance may be associated with the filmed performances of the American artist Bruce Nauman (Kolz 2007, p.61), Claire Bishop has identified they shoot horses as an example of what she calls 'delegated performance' or 'the act of hiring nonprofessionals or specialists in other fields to undertake the job of being present and performing at a particular time and a particular place on behalf of the artist, and following his or her instructions' (Bishop 2012, p.91). Bishop claims that a significant number of artists, including Maurizio Cattelan, Tino Sehgal and Dora García, have taken this approach since the 1990s as a way of engaging critically with the politics of identity and labour.

Further reading
Claire Bishop, 'The Social Turn: Collaboration and its Discontents', Artforum, vol.44, no.6, February 2006, pp.178-83, reproduced p.178.
Liz Kolz, 'Live Through This', in Suzanne Weaver and Siniša Mitrovic (eds.), Phil Collins: the world won't listen, exhibition catalogue, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas 2007, pp.56-65, reproduced pp.56, 60.
Claire Bishop, 'Delegated Performance: Outsourcing Authenticity', October, no.140, spring 2012, pp.91-112, reproduced p.99.

Richard Martin
August 2014

Supported by Christie's.
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.

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'they shoot horses', Phil Collins, 2004 | Tate

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they shoot horses 2004 is a two channel colour video shown on two adjacent screens in a darkened room, featuring young people from Ramallah in Palestine dancing to a succession of pop songs.

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The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes review – a trespasser's radical manifesto

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eaders acquainted with modern British nature writing will know their way around The Book of Trespass, an episodic travelogue that weaves history into close observation of the material world. Less familiar is the radicalism that enlivens Nick Hayes's dispatches.

Chapter by chapter, we follow him over walls and through hedges into the private landholdings of England, including Arundel Castle (among the Duke of Norfolk's residences), Boughton House (the Dukes of Buccleuch), Highclere Castle (the "real" Downton Abbey, owned by the Earl of Carnarvon) - and the Sussex estate of Paul Dacre, former editor of the Daily Mail. Hayes counterpoints these recces into establishment territory with visits to the "Jungle" migrant camp in Calais - a kind of forward operating base of UK border control - and the Wilderness music and cultural festival, favourite of David and Samantha Cameron, where in the absence of actual wilderness he embarks on another act of boundary crossing, with a leg-up from MDMA.

Illustration: Nick Hayes

Several scenes are related from the ambit of a campsite bonfire, as the author revisits that day's excursion, and the flicker of firelight (the storyteller's light) seems to illuminate the whole book. Hayes is an illustrator as well as a writer and his attentiveness to chiaroscuro extends to the accompanying black-and-white relief prints. Each chapter carries an animal's name, and the illustrations that adorn the headings have a scythe-like dynamism that befits a book more blood-stained than rose-tinted. Most telling is the animal subjects' refusal, in these thumbnail portraits, to be confined: badger's snout, fox's tail, stag's horn - each breaches the wall of its heavy black frame. It's a deft detail in a book dedicated to demolishing boundaries of all kinds.

Summarising English property law, from the first Act of Enclosure in 1235 to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act of 2005, Hayes persuasively implicates the country's large private estates - and the very notion of such large-scale exclusive land ownership - in the nation's foundational evils. "Race, class, gender, health, income are all divisions imposed upon society by the power that operates on it," he writes. "If this power is sourced in property, then the fences that divide England are not just symbols of the partition of people, but the very cause of it." To peer through these palings is to gaze into the country's dark heart: on the other side, ordinarily hidden from public view, is a scene of vampiric exploitation sustained by a quasi-religious belief in the sanctity of private space.

The book doesn't sit on the fence. Alongside its heroes - Roger Deakin, National Trust founder Octavia Hill, the Greenham Common women and the Sheffield Tree protestors - is a cast of millionaire villains. As well as Dacre, there is the heinous barricader of public footpaths Nicholas van Hoogstraten, various Tory duckhouse-builders, and the "current MP for South Dorset and serial hoarder of syllables, Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax", whose vast Charborough estate was founded on his ancestors' slave wealth.

Illustration: Nick Hayes

It hardly feels provocative to suggest that slavery and the excesses of colonialism are embedded in the matter of houses such as Charborough. "These gleaming, cream-stoned treasure chests, stuffed to the eaves with violent plunder, are in fact radiant monoliths to the myth of white supremacy." For his part, Drax has reasoned that he "can't be held responsible for something that happened three hundred or four hundred years ago" - fair enough, of course, though Hayes notes that "he still owns the original sugar plantation in Barbados, and visits his Jacobean manor house there every year".

Hayes's relief prints in The Book of Trespass are more than adjuncts to the text. As he notes, the very act of sketching "legitimises loitering". Each chapter includes a double-page black-and-white landscape, rendered with a thrilling air of motion and immediacy. Often depicting a country house or folly in its landscaped grounds, each is framed and screened by swags of vegetation, creating an atmosphere of furtiveness. The viewpoint is that of burglars biding their time, of the criminal. But what, Hayes asks, is the nature of the crime?

As well as a gazetteer to out-of-bounds England, the book is a kind of trespassers' manual, which opens with an account of the celebrated mass trespass of Kinder Scout in the Peak District in 1932. Know your rights. The French word trespasser, "to cross over", derives from the Latin transgredior, from which, tellingly, comes the English transgression. But a sign that reads "Trespassers will be prosecuted" is either mistaken or mendacious - you will not be prosecuted for your transgression alone. In 1994, however, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act introduced the crime of "aggravated trespass", under the terms of which any "additional conduct" while trespassing constitutes a crime. As the Crown Prosecution Service website states: "There is no requirement that the additional conduct should itself be a crime." It may include "playing a musical instrument or taking a photograph" - or drawing in a sketchbook.

Illustration: Nick Hayes

The risk of encountering the huffing gamekeeper or whip-wielding overlord animates Hayes's trespasses. But when moments of contact do occur, there is seldom much fuss: the keeper is drily unfriendly - "Are you lost?" - and Hayes apologises and turns on his heel. Only as the book moves towards its conclusion does it become clear that the real value of all these trespasses lies not so much in the thrill of "transgression" or their insights into a sequestered geography, but the effect they have cumulatively of lifting the spell of private ownership from land that is, rightfully, our common inheritance, and whose seizure continues to impoverish us all. "The land is awakening," Hayes writes at the end. He has picked apart the meaning of "trespass" and brilliantly redefined it as an act of solidarity.

* William Atkins is the author of The Immeasurable World: A Desert Journey (Faber). The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines That Divide Us by Nick Hayes is published by Bloomsbury (£20). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

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The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes review - a trespasser's radical manifesto

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eaders acquainted with modern British nature writing will know their way around The Book of Trespass, an episodic travelogue that weaves history into close observation of the material world. Less familiar is the radicalism that enlivens Nick Hayes's dispatches.

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Psychogeography is the other term used - book on Z Books by Merlin Coverley:
https://b-ok.cc/s/Merlin%20Coverley

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Les Lèvres Nues #9 (November 1956) reprinted in Internationale Situationniste #2 (December 1958)

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This is the photographer I was trying to remember!

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"I first came across these feedlots on Google Earth and had no idea what I was seeing. The mass and density of the black and white dots seemed almost microbial. To understand what they were I had to learn about the meat industry and its methods for maximizing yield in the minimum amount of time for the highest profit.

It used to take five years for a cow to reach its mature weight, ready for slaughter and processing. Today, since the structures and processes of feed yards have been perfected, that has been reduced to less than 18 months.

Such speed requires growth hormones and antibiotics in cows' diets, and efficient feedlot architecture. Farmers can turn to reports to help calculate the maximum number of cattle that can fit in each pen, the minimum size of run-off channels that carry away thousands of tons of urine and manure, and the composition of chemicals needed to break down the waste as it collects in lagoons and drains into the soil. Different chemical mixes explain the varying toxic hues of each lagoon.

These pictures were made by stitching together hundreds of high-resolution screen shots from publicly accessible satellite imaging software. The results are prints of great clarity and detail that capture the effects of feedlots on the land.

The meat industry is a subject loaded with a moral and ethical charge. But when I think of these pictures, I don't just see gigantic farms, I see an attitude toward life and death that exists throughout contemporary culture. These images reflect a blueprint and a horror that lie at the heart of the way we live." - Op-Ed, LA Times

Archival pigment prints in aluminium frames
59x102 inches (150x258cm) / 40x48 inches (102x122cm)

Smaller editioned prints of Coronado Feeders, Tascosa Feedyard, and Centerfire Feedyard are available to buy here.

List of works, medium and dimensions
Coronado Feeders, Dalhart, Texas (2012)
Archival pigment print, 102x122cm / 150x180cm

Tascosa Feedyard, Bushland, Texas (2013)
Archival pigment print, 102x129cm / 150x190cm

Randall County Feedyard, Amarillo, Texas (2013)
Archival pigment print, 102x104cm / 150x153cm

Wrangler Feedyard, Tulia, Texas (2013)
Archival pigment print, 102x126cm / 150x186cm

Friona Feedyard, Palmer County, Texas (2013)
Archival pigment print, 102x162cm / 150x238cm

Centerfire Feedyard, Ulysses, Kansas (2013)
Archival pigment print, 102x128cm / 150x189cm

Black Diamond Feeders, Herington, Kansas (2013)
Archival pigment print, 102x135cm / 150x199cm

Black Diamond Feedyard, Herington, Kansas

Mishka Henner Uses Google Earth as Muse, Philip Gefter, New York Times
Feed Lots, Nicola Twilley, Edible Geography
Semi-Automatic: Mishka Henner, Lara Atallah, Art Forum Critics' Pick
How the Meat Industry Marks the Land, Op-Ed, LA Times
Factory Food From Above, Brandon Keim, Wired
Mishka Henner: Art as Geospatial Intelligence Gathering, Robert Shore, Elephant
Your Summer Grilling Meats Could Have Come From These Colossal Animal Feedlots, Slate Magazine
Landmark: The Fields of Landscape Photography (2014) William Ewing, Thames & Hudson
The Surreal Beauty of Feedlots by Satellite, Ben Valentine, Hyperallergic
The Man Who Laughed At Surveillance Technology, Alex Greenberger, Art News
Mishka Henner: a Duchamp for our times, Lucy Davies, Daily Telegraph
The Handbook of Textile Culture (2015) Jasleen Dhamija, Bloosmbury
Infectious Disease in Policy & Politics in Nursing and Health Care (2015) C Dentinger & J Simmerman
Perspectives on Place (2015) J.A.P. Alexander, Bloomsbury
Post-Photography: The Artist with a Camera (2014) Robert Shore, Laurence King
Feedlots, Colin Pantall, Foam Magazine
Mishka Henner, Sarah James, Frieze
The Human Stain, Michelle Legro, New Republic
Fed Up, Pacific Standard Magazine
Search History, Selina Oakes, Corridor8
Can a Feedlot Be Beautiful? Willy Blackmore, Takepart

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Coronado Feeders, Dalhart, Texas Feedlots 2012- 2013 "I first came across these feedlots on Google Earth and had no idea what I was...

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Disposable
Environment
Pollution
Destruction
Waste
Consumption
Materiality
Change thinking
Filter
Frames of reference
Playing with filters
Consumerism
Multiple perspectives

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Input
All of my/your thoughts
Bombard
Critical theory
Derive

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‘they shoot horses’, Phil Collins, 2004 | Tate

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they shoot horses 2004 is a two channel colour video shown on two adjacent screens in a darkened room, featuring young people from Ramallah in Palestine dancing to a succession of pop songs. Each video was shot with a static camera in a single take lasting seven hours, and shows a small group of participants (three men and one woman in one video, and three women and two men in the other) dancing in a community centre, often with great energy and enthusiasm, against a deep pink wall with two orange horizontal stripes running across it. The music is synchronised so that the same songs - consisting of Western pop music of different styles from the 1960s to the 2000s - play at the same time in each video. Although there are no standard breaks in the music for the protagonists to rest, some dancers do occasionally sit or slump on the floor, and the performances are also intermittently interrupted by power cuts and calls to prayer. This work is the third in an edition of three plus one artist's proof.

In March 2004 the British artist Phil Collins advertised in Ramallah for people willing to be involved in this project, and subsequently held auditions for performers. He then filmed two separate groups of young people, each of whom were paid to dance constantly over the course of one day. Both groups danced for eight hours in total, but after one hour-long videotape was seized by Israeli authorities, Collins created two seven hour videos.

The title of the work refers to the American author Horace McCoy's 1935 novel They Shoot Horses, Don't They, which was adapted into a film in 1969 directed by Sydney Pollack, and features a dance marathon held during the Great Depression in the United States. The phrase evokes pity for the contestants who have to endure the competition in order to earn money, suggesting that they are treated worse than animals. Collins's choice of title seems to offer a humorous and perhaps sympathetic comment on his performers, who continue to dance to upbeat songs despite their evident exhaustion.

they shoot horses may be viewed as a form of portraiture, capturing the changing emotions of the dancers over the course of one arduous day. As the critic Liz Kolz pointed out in 2007, 'We have never met these young people, but after a while we feel as if we know them intimately: the cheerleadery girl with long earrings and athletic clothes, the tired girl, the handsome aloof guy. As fatigue takes its toll, their efforts appear alternatively tragic and comic, heroic and heartbreaking' (Kolz 2007, p.61).

This work may also be assessed in relation to its political and geographical context and to the global reach of Western culture. In emphasising the participants' enjoyment of pop music, the videos might be seen to challenge stereotypical characterisations that define young Palestinians purely in terms of the Israel-Palestine conflict. As the art historian Claire Bishop has explained:

By voiding the work of direct political narrative, Collins demonstrates how swiftly this space is filled by fantasies generated by the media's selective production and dissemination of images from the Middle East (since the typical Western viewer seems condemned to view young Arabs either as victims or as medieval fundamentalists). By using pop music as familiar to Palestinian as to Western teens, Collins also provides a commentary on globalization that is considerably more nuanced than most activist-oriented political art.
(Bishop 2006, p.182.)

Over the course of his career, Collins - who has travelled extensively, especially to areas often associated with conflict (such as Belfast, Baghdad and Belgrade) - has created videos, taken photographs and orchestrated performances exploring how cultural identities are formed. Following the completion of they shoot horses he began work on a trilogy of videos called the world won't listen 2004-7, which features people in Colombia, Turkey and Indonesia performing karaoke versions of songs by the British band The Smiths.

While Liz Kolz has argued that Collins's videos exploring repetitive tasks and feats of bodily endurance may be associated with the filmed performances of the American artist Bruce Nauman (Kolz 2007, p.61), Claire Bishop has identified they shoot horses as an example of what she calls 'delegated performance' or 'the act of hiring nonprofessionals or specialists in other fields to undertake the job of being present and performing at a particular time and a particular place on behalf of the artist, and following his or her instructions' (Bishop 2012, p.91). Bishop claims that a significant number of artists, including Maurizio Cattelan, Tino Sehgal and Dora García, have taken this approach since the 1990s as a way of engaging critically with the politics of identity and labour.

Further reading
Claire Bishop, 'The Social Turn: Collaboration and its Discontents', Artforum, vol.44, no.6, February 2006, pp.178-83, reproduced p.178.
Liz Kolz, 'Live Through This', in Suzanne Weaver and Siniša Mitrovic (eds.), Phil Collins: the world won't listen, exhibition catalogue, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas 2007, pp.56-65, reproduced pp.56, 60.
Claire Bishop, 'Delegated Performance: Outsourcing Authenticity', October, no.140, spring 2012, pp.91-112, reproduced p.99.

Richard Martin
August 2014

Supported by Christie's.
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.

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'they shoot horses', Phil Collins, 2004 | Tate

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they shoot horses 2004 is a two channel colour video shown on two adjacent screens in a darkened room, featuring young people from Ramallah in Palestine dancing to a succession of pop songs.

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We could have a theme and each undertake a derive. It could be interactive like this one

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Each day for a month, the artists would post their coordinates online with the hashtag #TAKEMEANYWHERE and wait for a ride. Whoever then appeared could take them wherever they chose. For the duration of the project, their journey could be tracked in real time at take-me-anywhere.net, with their path entirely in the hands of the public.

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Each day for a month, the artists would post their coordinates online with the hashtag #TAKEMEANYWHERE and wait for a ride. Whoever then appeared could take them wherever they chose. For the duration of the project, their journey could be tracked in real time at take-me-anywhere.net, with their path entirely in the hands of the public.

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Things that we know about but are so huge they are too conceptually distant

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Browse through photographs from each of Edward Burtynsky's series - including Tailings, China, Oil, Water and the latest from Anthropocene.

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Filters

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With 3.575 million people dying each year from water-related disease, our current water crisis is one of epic proportions. At any given time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by those suffering from illness brought on by limited access to safe drinking water, poor hygiene and sanitation. Granted these harrowing realities plaguing our society, it's imperative that designers, inventors, engineers and visionaries do what they can to find a solution. Fortunately, there's no shortage of innovation on tap - read on for six water purifying designs for the developing world!

1. Lifestraw

The Lifestraw is a small cigar-shaped tube packed with some truly innovative engineering. This clever design purifies water from potential pathogens like typhoid, cholera, dysentery and diarrhea - all before they reach your lips. The Lifestraw is an inexpensive way to deliver potable water to those in need, and it is considered an icon of humanitarian product design - it was included in Cooper Hewitt's Design for the Other 90% exhibition, which featured products, architecture, and technology that's have a positive impact on under-privileged demographics around the world.

2. Ceramic Water Filters

In 2008 UNICEF and the Water and Sanitation Program were given the Project Innovation Award Grand Prize by the International Water Association for providing Cambodia with ceramic water filters. These water purification devices, made and distributed by Cambodian nationals, resulted in a 50 percent drop in diarrheal illnesses since they were first employed back in 2002. Developed in a joint effort between WSP and UNICEF, the filters are made from fired clay, and the tiny pores of the ceramic material are small enough to remove virtually all bacteria and protozoa. The design utilizes gravity to facilitate the filtration process, resulting in a flow rate of 1-3 liters per hour.
+ Field Report on Ceramic Filters in Cambodia [PDF]
3. Water Purifying Bicycle

Japan's Nippon Basic Company recently introduced what they are calling, the "Cycloclean," a water-purifying bike initially designed for use in remote villages and disaster zones. The Cycloclean harness kinetic energy to purify water, and users can ride the bike to any nearby body of water for immediate access to a source of potable drinking water.

Jung Uk Park, Myeong Hoon Lee, and Dae Youl Lee are the industrial designers behind the ingenious water purification device know as the Life Sack. Not only does this clever design purify water - it also doubles as a container for shipping grains and other food staples. Once the package of food is received, it can then be used as a solar water purification kit. To filter contaminated water the Life sack uses SODIS (Solar Water Disinfection Process) technology: UV-A-radiation and the bag's thermal treatment process work together to kill deadly microorganisms and bacteria in water. The sack can also be worn as a backpack for quick and easy movement from the source to the community.

5. "Pure" Water Bottle Filters Water With UV Rays

While traveling in Zambia, Timothy Whitehead was exposed to a water purification process that left him both concerned and perplexed. This process required 30 minutes, and used chlorine and iodine tablets to produce water that although safe to drink was terrible in taste. Inspired to develop an alternative solution, he came up with the Pure Water Bottle - a device that is capable of filtering soiled water in two minutes by using a combination of 4 micron-sized water filters and a wind-up ultraviolet light system. This combinations removes up to 99.9% of impurities from any water source, and it could be a valuable asset for people in developing nations.

6. Hamster Ball-Shaped Solarball

Designed by Jonathan Liow, a graduate student at Monash University, the Solar Ball is a spherical shaped device that utilizes the power of the sun to purify water. Inspired by a trip to Cambodia, Liow sought to aid underdeveloped populations that lack access to clean drinking water. When placed in the sun, the Solarballuses evaporation to separate dirt and contaminants. The resulting condensations yields just over three quarts of potable water per day. The ball is inexpensive and relatively small in size, making it easy to transport

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water for the thrid world developing countries water issues

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6 Water-purifying Devices for Clean Drinking Water in the Developing World

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With 3.575 million people dying each year from water-related disease, our current water crisis is one of epic proportions. At any given time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by those suffering from illness brought on by limited access to safe drinking water, poor hygiene and sanitation.

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Bone structures- microscopic images- filters- sift, strain, purify, screen, mesh, (dialogue etc)

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Drawing attention to use of  dead trees to the life of our surrounding environment by creating installations

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"The quality of place, the reaction to immediate contact with earth and growing things that have a fugal relationship with mountains and sky, is essential to the integrity of our existence on this planet," the famous American photographer Ansel Adams wrote in his autobiography. From the romantic painters of the late 18th century to Adams to contemporary figures like Pedro Reyes and Agnes Denes, artists have long had a fascination -- and deep respect -- for the planet on which we exist.

With the words "global warming" and "climate change" never far from the headlines, artists like Adams and co. are more relevant than ever. Tying together the scientific and creative worlds in acts of beauty and activism, sculptors, painters, photographers and more have the power to make environmentalism a priority and bring green initiatives to the forefront of cultural conversations. Behold, 18 green artists who are making climate change and conservation a priority.

For " Your waste of time," Olafur Eliasson displayed pieces of ice that broke off from Iceland's largest glacier, Vatnajökull. Exhibited in a refrigerated gallery space powered by solar panels, the ice "sculptures" represented 800 years of Earthly existence, putting human's physical experience in perspective. "The obvious lesson of Mr. Eliasson's installation, 'Your waste of time,' is that global warming is wreaking havoc on nature," Ken Johnson wrote in The New York Times last year.

At first glance, David Maisel's gorgeous photographs seem to celebrate the natural beauty of another planet, but his deep blue swirls and red craters actually depict the aerial appearance of environmentally impacted sites in the United States transformed by water reclamation, logging, military tests and mining. "With the mining sites, I found a subject matter that carried forth my fascination with the undoing of the landscape, in terms of both its formal beauty and its environmental politics," Maisel writes on his website.

The art collective Luzinterruptus has a history of tackling political and social issues in Europe. The "Labyrinth of Plastic Waste" is but one example.

"We were looking to demonstrate, in a poetic manner, the amount of plastic waste that is consumed daily," Luzinterruptus explained in a statement. "In addition to focusing attention on the big business of bottling water, which leads to very serious problems in developing countries, whose citizens have watched as their aquifers have been privatized with impunity for the exclusive enrichment of large business owners and ruling classes without scruples."

Architects Amanda Schachter and Alexander Levi's massive " Harvest Dome 2.0," assembled from 450 umbrellas and 128 bottles, once floated around the inlet of Inwood Hill Park in New York City. Deemed a piece of "performance architecture," the 24 by 18-foot structure further proves the world's garbage can we reused in many unexpected ways.

Using toxic runoff found in the Ohio River region, artist and professor John Sabraw produces his own DIY pigments -- bold yellows and reds that are sourced from the oxidized sludge of abandoned coal mines. Rather than using imported iron oxide from China to make his paint colors, he taps into the water's heavy metals left over from abandoned coal mines, bringing to light the region's pollution problem in the process.

" The artist, like the scientist, has a crucial role to perform in our society," Sabraw explained to HuffPost. "See things differently, act on this vision, report the failures and successes."

Naziha Mestaoui's "One Beat One Tree" projects virtual forests onto city spaces, blurring the boundaries between the natural world and advancing technology. The digital trees actually grow in rhythm with a person's heartbeat, as viewers can connect to the series via a smart phone sensor. And with each virtual plant, a physical one is grown in regions throughout the world, from Europe and Latin America to Africa and Asia. Since its inception two years ago, the project has already sparked the growth of 13,000 trees.

Photographer Rachel Sussman has been traveling the globe for the past 10 years, searching for the world's oldest living things with camera in tow. From the Mojave Desert to the Australian Outback to Greenland's icy expanses, she captures portraits of organisms capable of lasting for 80,000 years, shining a light on our planet's resilience in the face of human intervention. "Extreme longevity can lull us into a false sense of permanence," Sussman wrote for Brain Pickings. " But being old is not the same as being immortal."

Combining elements of painting, photography, performance, cinema and land art, Barry Underwood renders environmental issues like light pollution and deforestation in electric splendor."My attempt is to portray environmental issues that are not delivered in a heavy-handed way," Underwood explained to HuffPost. "Rather in a way that draws attention in a pleasing way, then if contemplated could unfold a message of dissidence or a natural discord."

French sculptor Paulo Grangeon used an unlikely medium to illuminate the reality of animal endangerment across the world. For his traveling exhibit, "Pandas on Tour," he created 1,600 papier-mâché bears meant to represent the actual number of pandas left on the planet (recent estimates actually place the number slightly below that, at 1,596). Launched in 2008 in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund, Grangeon's project has traveled to landmarks in more than 20 countries, including the Eiffel Tower.

Ask a Dutch artist to solve the problem of blanket pollution in Beijing and what do you get? If you've tracked down Daan Roosegaarde, you'll get "Smog," a system of underground copper coils meant to suck up airborne particles using an electrostatic field. It's like a vacuum cleaner that operates on a similar principle to statically charged balloons.

A Kyrgyz street artist named Aida Sulova confronted the rampant garbage problem in Bishkek by using trash bins as a canvas. According to Wooster Collective, the street artist pastes photographic images of open mouths on garbage cans throughout the city to "remind people that what they throw into the world, eventually ends up inside us."

Photographer Chris Jordan puts consumption into perspective with his series "Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption." His works show the debris we as a society leave behind, from massive dumps of cell phones, to crushed cars and circuit boards, all squeezed together in hypnotic quantities. "I am appalled by these scenes, and yet also drawn into them with awe and fascination," Jordan explained in an email to The Huffington Post. "The immense scale of our consumption can appear desolate, macabre, oddly comical and ironic, and even darkly beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity."

For the 2012 installation " Sandstars," Gabriel Orozco arranged over 1,200 objects from the Isla Arena, Mexico trash repository on the Guggenheim Museum's floor, accompanied by a dozen large, gridded photographs depicting the individual objects in a studio setting. The found treasures bring hints of the ignored wastelands into a gallery setting, forcing viewers to confront the effects of industrial and commercial refuse.

The 2013 phenomenon that was the " Rain Room" invited MoMA viewers to experience a deluge of falling water without getting wet. According to the museum's description for the exhibition EXPO 1: New York, "the work invites visitors to explore the roles that science, technology, and human ingenuity can play in stabilizing our environment."

Agnes Denes is a giant among land artists. Her most well-known project is probably the 1982 piece "Wheatfield -- A Confrontation," in which she planted a field of golden wheat on two acres of a landfill near Wall Street and the World Trade Center in Manhattan. She weeded, irrigated and cultivated the mini oasis, bringing the essence of rural America into the throngs of America's urban epicenter. The confrontation was between nature and artifice.

Christo and the late Jeanne-Claude are well known for their massive land artworks that serve to remind viewers of the natural wonders scattered around the planet. For " Surrounded Islands," the two artists encircled 11 islands in Biscayne Bay, Miami with 6.5 million square feet of floating pink woven polypropylene fabric. In the process, they cleaned up 40 tons of garbage from the floating land masses.

French artist Mathilde Roussel created a series of living grass installations that take the shape of human beings. Made of recycled material and fabric filled with soil and wheat grass seeds, the pieces are meant to symbolize the centrality of food. " Observing nature and being aware of what and how we eat makes us more sensitive to food cycles in the world -- of abundance, of famine -- and allows us to be physically, intellectually and spiritually connected to a global reality," the artist explains.

For "The People's United Nations (pUN)" exhibition at Queens Museum in New York, Mexican artist Pedro Reyes made climate change and geo-engineering points of focus for his diplomatic performance piece. He even served grasshopper burgers during a lunch break to participants in the 193-person assembly to highlight the carbon footprint of meat. " Protein from insects is the way of the future," the artist proclaimed to HuffPost.

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18 Green Artists Who Are Making Climate Change A Priority

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"The quality of place, the reaction to immediate contact with earth and growing things that have a fugal relationship with mountains and sky, is essential to the integrity of our existence on this planet," the famous American photographer Ansel Adams wrote in his autobiography.

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Language/ visual moving image/ auditory- Connecting three- as we are three in group-If Linear that  is suggesting journey with end- however points in Circle is returning to same beginning- (with potentially three reference points)- Triangular- jagged sharp

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Language/ visual moving image/ auditory- Connecting three- as we are three in group-If Linear that  is suggesting journey with end- however points in Circle is returning to same beginning- (with potentially three reference points)- Triangular- jagged sharp

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Mycelium as the most ancient living organism.
https://maekan.com/2019/11/the-fungal-future-how-mycelium-helps-us-rethink-design/

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Tuberculosis - we can successfully vaccinate  against

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Tuberculosis - we can successfully vaccinate  against

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Key facts

A total of 1.3 million people died from TB in 2022 (including 167 000 people with HIV). Worldwide, TB is the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19 (above HIV and AIDS).

In 2022, an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) worldwide, including 5.8 million men, 3.5 million women and 1.3 million children. TB is present in all countries and age groups. TB is curable and preventable.

Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis and a health security threat. Only about 2 in 5 people with drug resistant TB accessed treatment in 2022.

Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 75 million lives since the year 2000.

US$ 13 billion is needed annually for TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care to achieve the global target agreed at the 2018 UN high level-meeting on TB.

Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Overview

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that most often affects the lungs and is caused by a type of bacteria. It spreads through the air when infected people cough, sneeze or spit.

Tuberculosis is preventable and curable.

About a quarter of the global population is estimated to have been infected with TB bacteria. About 5-10% of people infected with TB will eventually get symptoms and develop TB disease.

Those who are infected but not (yet) ill with the disease cannot transmit it. TB disease is usually treated with antibiotics and can be fatal without treatment.

In certain countries, the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is given to babies or small children to prevent TB. The vaccine prevents TB outside of the lungs but not in the lungs.

Symptoms

People with latent TB infection don't feel sick and aren't contagious. Only a small proportion of people who get infected with TB will get TB disease and symptoms. Babies and children are at higher risk.

Certain conditions can increase a person's risk for tuberculosis disease:

diabetes (high blood sugar)

weakened immune system (for example, HIV or AIDS)

being malnourished

tobacco use.

Unlike TB infection, when a person gets TB disease, they will have symptoms. These may be mild for many months, so it is easy to spread TB to others without knowing it.

Common symptoms of TB:

The symptoms people get depend on where in the body TB becomes active. While TB usually affects the lungs, it also affects the kidneys, brain, spine and skin.

Prevention

Follow these steps to help prevent tuberculosis infection and spread:

Seek medical attention if you have symptoms like prolonged cough, fever and unexplained weight loss as early treatment for TB can help stop the spread of disease and improve your chances of recovery.

Get tested for TB infection if you are at increased risk, such as if you have HIV or are in contact with people who have TB in your household or your workplace.

If prescribed treatment to prevent TB, complete the full course.

If you have TB, practice good hygiene when coughing, including avoiding contact with other people and wearing a mask, covering your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, and disposing of sputum and used tissues properly.

Special measures like respirators and ventilation are important to reduce infection in healthcare and other institutions.

Diagnosis

WHO recommends the use of rapid molecular diagnostic tests as the initial diagnostic test in all persons with signs and symptoms of TB.

Rapid diagnostic tests recommended by WHO include the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra and Truenat assays. These tests have high diagnostic accuracy and will lead to major improvements in the early detection of TB and drug-resistant TB.

A tuberculin skin test (TST) or interferongamma release assay (IGRA) can be used to identity people with infection.

Diagnosing multidrug-resistant and other resistant forms of TB (see multidrug-resistant TB section below) as well as HIV-associated TB can be complex and expensive.

Tuberculosis is particularly difficult to diagnose in children.

Treatment

Tuberculosis disease is treated with antibiotics. Treatment is recommended for both TB infection and disease.

The most common antibiotics used are:

To be effective, these medications need to be taken daily for 4-6 months. It is dangerous to stop the medications early or without medical advice. This can allow TB that is still alive to become resistant to the drugs.

Tuberculosis that doesn't respond to standard drugs is called drug-resistant TB and requires more toxic treatment with different medicines.

Multidrug-resistant TB

Drug resistance emerges when TB medicines are used inappropriately, through incorrect prescription by health care providers, poor quality drugs, or patients stopping treatment prematurely.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a form of TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to isoniazid and rifampicin, the 2 most effective first-line TB drugs. MDR-TB is treatable and curable by using second-line drugs. However, second-line treatment options require extensive medicines that are expensive and toxic.

In some cases, more extensive drug resistance can develop. TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to the most effective second-line TB drugs can leave patients with very limited treatment options.

MDR-TB remains a public health crisis and a health security threat. Only about 2 in 5 people with drug resistant TB accessed treatment in 2022.

In accordance with WHO guidelines, detection of MDR/RR-TB requires bacteriological confirmation of TB and testing for drug resistance using rapid molecular tests or culture methods.

In 2022, new WHO guidelines prioritize a 6-month regimen - the BPaLM/BPaL - as a treatment of choice for eligible patients. The shorter duration, lower pill burden and high efficacy of this novel regimen can help ease the burden on health systems and save precious resources to further expand the diagnostic and treatment coverage for all individuals in need. In the past, MDR-TB treatment used to last for at least 9 months and up to 20 months. WHO recommends expanded access to all-oral regimens.

TB and HIV

People living with HIV are 16 (uncertainty interval 14-18) times more likely to fall ill with TB disease than people without HIV. TB is the leading cause of death among people with HIV.

HIV and TB form a lethal combination, each speeding the other's progress. Without proper treatment, 60% of HIV-negative people with TB on average and nearly all HIV-positive people with TB will die. In 2022, about 167 000 people died of HIV-associated TB. The percentage of notified TB patients who had a documented HIV test result in 2022 was 80%, up from 76% in 2021. The WHO African Region has the highest burden of HIV-associated TB. Overall in 2022, only 54% of TB patients known to be living with HIV were on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

WHO recommends a 12-component approach of collaborative TB-HIV activities, including actions for prevention and treatment of infection and disease, to reduce deaths.

Impact

Tuberculosis mostly affects adults in their most productive years. However, all age groups are at risk. Over 80% of cases and deaths are in low- and middle-income countries.

TB occurs in every part of the world. In 2022, the largest number of new TB cases occurred in WHO's South-East Asian Region (46%), followed by the African Region (23%) and the Western Pacific (18%). Around 87% of new TB cases occurred in the 30 high TB burden countries, with more than two-thirds of the global total in Bangladesh, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Globally, about 50% of TB patients and their households face total costs (direct medical expenditures, non-medical expenditures and indirect costs such as income losses) that are catastrophic (>20% of total household income), far from the WHO End TB Strategy target of zero. Those with compromised immune systems, such as people living with HIV, undernutrition or diabetes, or people who use tobacco, have a higher risk of falling ill. Globally in 2022, there were 2.2 million new TB cases that were attributable to undernutrition, 0.89 million to HIV infection, 0.73 million to alcohol use disorders, 0.70 million to smoking and 0.37 million to diabetes.

Investments to end TB

US$ 13 billion are needed annually for TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care to achieve global targets agreed on at the UN high level-TB meeting.

As in the past decade, most of the spending on TB services in 2022 (80%) was from domestic sources. In low- and middle-income countries, international donor funding remains crucial. The main source is the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund). The United States Government is the largest contributor of funding to the Global Fund and also the largest bilateral donor. For research and development, according to the Treatment Action Group, only US$ 1 billion were available in 2022 of the US$ 2 billion required per year to accelerate the development of new tools. At least an extra US$ 1 billion per year is needed to accelerate the development of new tools.

WHO response

WHO is working closely with countries, partners and civil society in scaling up the TB response. Six core functions are being pursued by WHO to contribute to achieving the targets of the UN high-level meeting political declaration, Sustainable Development Goals, End TB Strategy and WHO strategic priorities:

providing global leadership to end TB through strategy development, political and multisectoral engagement, strengthening review and accountability, advocacy, and partnerships, including with civil society;

shaping the TB research and innovation agenda and stimulating the generation, translation and dissemination of knowledge;

setting norms and standards on TB prevention and care and promoting and facilitating their implementation;

developing and promoting ethical and evidence-based policy options for TB prevention and care;

ensuring the provision of specialized technical support to Member States and partners jointly with WHO regional and country offices, catalysing change, and building sustainable capacity; and

monitoring and reporting on the status of the TB epidemic and progress in financing and implementation of the response at global, regional and country levels.

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Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that most often affect the lungs. TB is curable and preventable and is spread from person to person through the air.

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PlayStation 5 launch gets more coverage 'than 10 humanitarian crises combined'

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The launch of PlayStation 5 received 26 times more news attention than 10 humanitarian crises combined in 2020, according to a Care International report published today.

The humanitarian crises, which included violence in Guatemala, hunger in Madagascar and natural disasters in Papua New Guinea, were largely swept aside by news of Covid-19, global Black Lives Matter protests and more clickbait-friendly events such as the Eurovision song contest and Kanye West's bid for the US presidency; the latter two each received 10 times more online news attention than the humanitarian crises in question, the report found.

The lack of media coverage adds to existing burdens for the 10 countries in crisis, including the effects of pandemic restrictions and the growing impact of climate change, said Care's humanitarian advocacy coordinator and UN representative Delphine Pinault.

"Covid-19 has shown us that humanitarian crises can occur anywhere, but for so many people, especially women and girls, Covid-19 is just another threat on top of what they must face already," said Pinault.

"We must not be silent while the world ignores crises that started long before Covid-19 and yet still have not been addressed."

An estimated 235 million people globally are expected to need humanitarian aid this year, an increase of 40% from 2020, according to data from the UN.

Africa was home to six of the 10 most underreported humanitarian crises of 2020, according to Care, with a number of nations - including Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR) and Madagascar - appearing in the list year after year.

The report points to violence and conflict in Burundi, CAR and Mali; hunger and drought in Madagascar and Zambia, and poverty and climate concerns in Malawi. Only one country in Europe - Ukraine - featured on Care's list, where about 5 million people needed humanitarian aid last year and women hired out their wombs for money. Food insecurity in Guatemala, conflict in Pakistan and hunger and earthquakes in Papua New Guinea also saw these nations make the ranking.

Care is urging governments to allow journalists better access to report "forgotten crisis" stories, and calling on global media to amplify the voices of women and girls and to partner with smaller, more local organisations to pay attention to news on the ground.

"When a crisis doesn't make headlines, it often doesn't receive sufficient humanitarian funding, either," the report warns.

"The publication of Care's neglected crises report is therefore a call to action to the humanitarian and donor community to not turn a blind eye."

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PlayStation 5 launch gets more coverage 'than 10 humanitarian crises combined'

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The launch of PlayStation 5 received 26 times more news attention than 10 humanitarian crises combined in 2020, according to a Care International report published today.

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Interview with Mark Dion "The Life of a Dead Tree" - YouTube

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Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada

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Interview with Mark Dion "The Life of a Dead Tree"

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Made with detritus from the workshop floor, garden and latex.

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If you rest your finger on the post you can move it around to help with arrangement.

Will want to see if we can share the Padlet in our teams meet to discuss.

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You have to think anyway, so why not think big?

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John Adair theorised that to be an effective leader, you needed to be aware of leadership in 3 basic areas. The image on the left shows his model which is figuratively based on three overlapping circles representing: 3) Develop the individual
1) Achieve the task
2) Build and develop the team

identify aims and vision for the group, purpose, and direction - define the activity (the task)

identify resources, people, processes, systems and tools (inc. financials, communications, IT)

create the plan to achieve the task - deliverables, measures, timescales, strategy and tactics

establish responsibilities, objectives, accountabilities and measures, by agreement and delegation

set standards, quality, time and reporting parameters

control and maintain activities against parameters

monitor and maintain overall performance against plan

report on progress towards the group's aim

review, re-assess, adjust plan, methods and targets as necessary

Build and develop the team

establish, agree and communicate standards of performance and behaviour

establish style, culture, approach of the group - soft skill elements

monitor and maintain discipline, ethics, integrity and focus on objectives

anticipate and resolve group conflict, struggles or disagreements

assess and change as necessary the balance and composition of the group

develop team-working, cooperation, morale and team-spirit

develop the collective maturity and capability of the group - progressively increase group freedom and authority

encourage the team towards objectives and aims - motivate the group and provide a collective sense of purpose

identify, develop and agree team- and project-leadership roles within group

enable, facilitate and ensure effective internal and external group communications

identify and meet group training needs

give feedback to the group on overall progress; consult with, and seek feedback and input from the group

understand the team members as individuals - personality, skills, strengths, needs, aims and fears

assist and support individuals - plans, problems, challenges, highs and lows

identify and agree appropriate individual responsibilities and objectives

give recognition and praise to individuals - acknowledge effort and good work

where appropriate reward individuals with extra responsibility, advancement and status

identify, develop and utilise each individual's capabilities and strengths

train and develop individual team members

develop individual freedom and authority

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John Adair theorised that to be an effective leader, you needed to be aware of leadership in 3 basic areas. The image on the left shows his model which is figuratively based on three overlapping circles representing: 3) Develop the individual 1) Achieve the task 2) Build and develop the team identify aims and vision for the group, purpose, and direction - define the activity (the task) identify resources, people, processes, systems and tools (inc.

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By Ann Porteus

Table of Contents

People play different roles in groups. And people play multiple roles in groups. Task roles, maintenance roles and hindering roles are all important roles for facilitators to be aware of and recognize.

Task Roles

Task roles refer to the actions of individuals that help move the project, decision, task along.

Initiating

Information or Opinion Seeking

Clarifying

Summarizing

Consensus Testing

Maintenance Roles

Maintenance roles refer to the actions of individuals that help preserve the relationships in a group.

Encouraging

Harmonizing

Expressing Group Feelings

Gatekeeping

Compromising

Standard Setting and Testing

Hindering Roles

Hindering roles refer to actions of individuals that hinder the group's process and progress.

Dominating

Withdrawing

Degrading

Uncoooperative

Side Conversations

Behavior: Whispering, giggling and having private side conversations with another person.

Solution: Set guidelines and expectations at the beginning of the meeting, stop the meeting and ask those involved in the side conversation to share what they are talking about with the group, stop the meeting and comment that it is difficult for you to hear the other discussion or to concentrate on the topic at hand with side conversations occurring; privately talk with the distracters and discuss their expectations for the meeting's topics; empower others to confront the distracters with how these side conversations keep everyone from concentrating on the group's discussion.
"I am having trouble focusing on the discussion with the side conversations going on. Is anyone else experiencing this?"
"It is difficult to focus on the discussion with side conversations going on. Can we agree that we will all focus on the main discussion?"
"I sense we are losing people's attention and interest, can we do a check-in to see where people are on this topic?"

Resource Manual Table of Contents Residential Education Home Page

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By Ann Porteus People play different roles in groups. And people play multiple roles in groups. Task roles, maintenance roles and hindering roles are all important roles for facilitators to be aware of and recognize. Task roles refer to the actions of individuals that help move the project, decision, task along.

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What is a group? How are we to approach groups? In this article we review the development of theory about groups. We look at some different definitions of groups, and some of the key dimensions to bear in mind when thinking about them.

contents: introduction · the development of thinking about groups · defining 'group' · types of group · the benefits and dangers of groups · some key dimensions of groups [ group interaction, group interdependence, group structure, group goals, group cohesiveness] · group development · conclusion · further reading and references · how to cite this article

Groups are a fundamental part of social life. As we will see they can be very small - just two people - or very large. They can be highly rewarding to their members and to society as a whole, but there are also significant problems and dangers with them. All this makes them an essential focus for research, exploration and action. In this piece I want to examine some of the key definitions of groups that have appeared, review central ways of categorizing groups, explore important dimensions of groups, and look briefly at the group in time.

The development of thinking about groups

Just how we define 'group' and the characteristics or ideas we use has been a matter of debate for many years. The significance of collectivities like families, friendship circles, and tribes and clans has been long recognized, but it is really only in the last century or so that groups were studied scientifically and theory developed (Mills 1967: 3). In the last decade of the nineteenth century, Émile Durkheim established just how wrapped up individual identity was with group membership, and Gustave Le Bon argued that people changed as they joined groupings such as crowds. Soon North American sociologists such as Charles Horton Cooley (1909) began to theorize groups more closely - and this was followed by others looking at particular aspects or types of group. Two well-known examples are Frederic Thrasher's (1927) exploration of gang life and Elton Mayo's (1933) research on the informal relationships between workers in teams. A further, critical, set of interventions came from Kurt Lewin (1948; 1951) who looked to the dynamic qualities of groups and established some important parameters with regard to the way they were to be studied.

As interest in group processes and group dynamics developed and accelerated (most particularly since the 1980s) the research base of the area strengthened. Not unexpectedly, the main arenas for the exploration of groups, and for building theory about them, have continued to be sociology, anthropology and social psychology - but they have been joined by contributions from biology, physics, management and organizational studies, and political science. As well as trying to make sense of human behaviour - why people join groups and what they get from them (both good and bad) - the study of groups has had a direct impact on practice in a number of areas of life. Perhaps the most obvious is work - and the contexts and practices of teams. But it has also acted as a spur to development in those fields of education, therapy, social care and social action that use groups to foster change.

Defining 'group'

As researchers turned to the systematic exploration of group life, different foci for attention emerged. Some social psychologists, for example, looked at the ways in which, for example, working in the presence of others tend to raise performance (Allport 1924). Others looked at different aspects of group process. Kurt Lewin (1948), for example, found that nearly all groups were based on interdependence among their members - and this applied whether the group was large or small, formally structured or loose, or focused on this activity or that. In a famous piece Lewin wrote, 'it is not similarity or dissimilarity of individuals that constitutes a group, but interdependence of fate' ( op. cit.: 165). In other words, groups come about in a psychological sense because people realize they are 'in the same boat' (Brown 1988: 28). However, even more significant than this for group process, Lewin argued, is some interdependence in the goals of group members. To get something done it is often necessary to cooperate with others.

Interdependence has, thus, come to play a significant role in the way that many writers define group (e.g., Cartwright and Zander 1968), Others have stressed how people categorize themselves as members of something (Turner 1987) or share identity (Brown 1988) (see Exhibit 1). Others might look to communication and face-to-face encounters (Homans 1950), purpose (Mills 1967), structure and so on. As a starting point though, I found Forsyth's (2006) definition the most helpful:

Hundreds of fish swimming together are called a school. A pack of foraging baboons is a troupe. A half dozen crows on a telephone line is a murder. A gam is a group of whales. But what is a collection of human beings called? A group. .... [C]ollections of people may seem unique, but each possesses that one critical element that defines a group: connections linking the individual members.... [M]embers are linked together in a web of interpersonal relationships. Thus, a group is defined as two or more individuals who are connected to one another by social relationships. Donelson R. Forsyth (2006: 2-3) [emphasis in original]

Subsequently, Forsyth has amended this definition to ' two or more individuals who are connected to one another by and within social relationships'. Donelson R. Forsyth (2017: 3) [emphasis in original]

This definition has the merit of bringing together three elements: the number of individuals involved; connection, and relationship.

Numbers: When people talk about groups they often are describing collectivities with two members (a dyad) or three members (a triad). For example, a work team or study group will often comprise two or three people. However, groups can be very large collectivities of people such a crowd or religious congregation or gathering. As might be expected, there are differences in some aspects of behaviour between small and larger groupings (see below), yet there remain significant commonalities.

Connection. Most definitions of 'group' highlight the presence of a link between members. This goes beyond some surface similarity such as height or eye colour. In groups we expect members to be connected in some meaningful way (Forsyth 2017: 4). As Forsyth ( op. cit.) puts it, 'A family is a group because the members are connected, not just by blood but also by social and emotional relationships'.

Relationship. We also must recognize that the relations linking members of groups are not of one type.

In families, for example, the relationships are based on kinship, but in the workplace, they are based on task-related interdependencies. In some groups, members are friends, but in others, the members are linked by common interests or experiences. Nor are the relationships linking members equally strong or enduring. Some relationships, like the links between members of a family or a clique of close friends, are tenacious, for they have developed over time and are based on a long history of mutual influence and exchange. In others, the ties between members may be so fragile that they are easily severed. Each individual member of the group does not need to be linked to every other person in the group... In some cases, such as groups based on ethnicity, race, or gender, the connection linking members may be more psychological than interpersonal. But no matter what the nature of the relations, a group exists when some type of bond links the members to one another and to the group itself (Forsyth 2017: 4-5).

Exhibit 1: Some definitions of a group

Conceiving of a group as a dynamic whole should include a definition of group that is based on interdependence of the members (or better, the subparts of the group). Kurt Lewin (1951: 146)

We mean by a group a number of persons who communicate with one another often over a span of time, and who are few enough so that each person is able to communicate with all the others, not at second-hand, through other people, but face-to-face. George Homans (1950: 1)

To put it simply they are units composed of two or more persons who come into contact for a purpose and who consider the contact meaningful. Theodore M. Mills (1967: 2)

A group is a collection of individuals who have relations to one another that make them interdependent to some significant degree. As so defined, the term group refers to a class of social entities having in common the property of interdependence among their constituent members. Dorwin Cartwright and Alvin Zander (1968: 46)

Descriptively speaking, a psychological group is defined as one that is psychologically significant for the members, to which they relate themselves subjectively for social comparison and the acquisition of norms and values, ... that they privately accept membership in, and which influences their attitudes and behaviour. John C Turner (1987: 1-2)

A group exists when two or more people define themselves as members of it and when its existence is recognized by at least one other. Rupert Brown (1988: 2-3)

In part differences in definition occur because writers often select those things that are of special importance in their work and then posit 'these as the criteria for group existence' (Benson 2001: 5). This said, it is possible, as Jarlath F. Benson has done, to identify a list of attributes:

* A set of people engage in frequent interactions

* They identify with one another.

* They are defined by others as a group.

* They share beliefs, values, and norms about areas of common interest.

* They define themselves as a group.

* They come together to work on common tasks and for agreed purposes (Benson 2009: 4)

From this she suggests that groups are intended and organic. They are not some random experience and as a result they have three crucial characteristics:

* There are parts

* There is relationship between the parts

* There is an organizing principle ( op. cit.).

To this we might also add, as both John C. Turner (1987) and Rupert Brown (1989) have pointed out, groups are not just systems or entities in their own right but exist in relation to other groups.

Types of groups

There are various ways of classifying groups, for example in terms of their purpose or structure, but two sets of categories have retained their usefulness for both practitioners and researchers. They involve the distinctions between: primary and secondary groups; and planned and emergent groups.

Primary and secondary groups

Charles Horton Cooley (1909) established the distinction between 'primary groups' and 'nucleated groups' (now better known as secondary groups):

Primary groups are clusters of people like families or close friendship circles where there is close, face-to-face and intimate interaction. There is also often a high level of interdependence between members. Primary groups are also the key means of socialization in society, the main place where attitudes, values and orientations are developed and sustained.

Secondary groups are those in which members are rarely, if ever, all in direct contact. They are often large and usually formally organized. Trades unions and membership organizations such as the National Trust are examples of these. They are an important place for socialization, but secondary to primary groups.

This distinction remains helpful - especially when thinking about what environments are significant when considering socialization (the process of learning about how to become members of society through internalizing social norms and values; and by learning through performing our different social roles). The distinction helps to explain the limited impact of schooling in important areas of social life (teachers rarely work in direct way with primary groups) and of some of the potential of informal educators and social pedagogues (who tend to work with both secondary and primary groups - sometimes with families, often with close friendship circles).

Planned and emergent groups

Alongside discussion of primary and secondary groups, came the recognition that groups tend to fall into one of two broad categories:

Planned groups. Planned groups are specifically formed for some purpose - either by their members, or by some external individual, group or organization.

Emergent groups. Emergent groups come into being relatively spontaneously where people find themselves together in the same place, or where the same collection of people gradually come to know each other through conversation and interaction over a period of time. (Cartwright and Zander 1968).

As Forsyth (2006: 6) has put it 'People found planned groups, but they often find emergent groups'. Sometimes writers use the terms 'formed' groups and 'natural groups' to describe the same broad distinction - but the term 'natural' is rather misleading. The development of natural groups might well involve some intention on the part of the actors.

More recently the distinction between formed and emergent groups has been further developed by asking whether the group is formed by internal or external forces. Thus, Arrow et. al (2000) have split planned groups into 'concocted' (planned by people and organizations outside the group) and 'founded' (planned by a person or people who are in the group). They also divided emergent groups into 'circumstantial' (unplanned and often temporary groups that develop when external forces bring people together e.g. people in a bus queue) and 'self-organizing' (where people gradually cooperate and engage with each other around some task or interest).

Some benefits and dangers of groups

As can be seen from what we have already reviewed, groups offer people the opportunity to work together on joint projects and tasks - they allow people to develop more complex and larger-scale activities. We have also seen that groups can be:

* Significant sites of socialization and education - enabling people to develop a sense of identity and belonging, and to deepen knowledge, skills, and values and attitudes.

* Places where relationships can form and grow, and where people can find help and support.

* Settings where wisdom flourishes. As James Suriwiecki (2004) has argued, it is often the case that 'the many are smarter than the few'.

However, there is a downside to all this. The socialization they offer might be highly constraining and oppressive for some of their members. They can also become environments that foster interpersonal conflict. Furthermore, the boundaries drawn around groups are part of a process of excluding certain people (sometimes to their detriment) and creating inter-group conflict. There is also evidence to show that groups can impact upon individuals in ways that warp their judgements and that lead to damaging decision making (what some commentators have talked about as 'groupthink').

For these reasons we need to be able to appreciate what is going on in groups - and to act where we can to make them more fulfilling and beneficial to their members and to society as a whole.

Some key dimensions of groups

Those engaged in the systematic exploration of group processes and dynamics have used different ways of observing group behaviour and gaining insight into the experience of being part of groups. Some have tried for more of an 'insider' view using participant observation and conversation. Perhaps the best known example of this was William F. Whyte's (1943) study of street corner society. Others have used more covert forms of observation, or looked to structured and overt observation and interviews. A classic example of the sort of scheme that has been used when looking at groups in more structured ways is Robert Freed Bales' (1950) IPA system (Interaction Process Analysis) with its 12 different ways of coding group behaviour e.g. 'shows solidarity', 'agrees', 'asks for opinion' and so on.

All this research, and the contrasting orientations informing it, has generated different ideas about what to look out for in groups and, in particular, the forces impacting upon group processes and dynamics. I want to highlight five:

* Group interaction

* Group interdependence

* Group structure

* Group goals

* Group cohesion (and entitativity)

There are various ways of organizing and naming the significant qualities - but I have found this approach (taken from Donelson R. Forsyth 1990: 8-12; 2006: 10-16; 2016: 10-16) to be the most helpful way to start exploration.

Group interaction

Those involved with researching and working with groups have often come at interaction - the way in which people engage with and influence each other - from contrasting perspectives. As we have already seen, Bales (1950, 1999) looked at categorizing social interventions in terms of the ways in which they appear to impact on group process - and in particular the extent to which they looked to 'getting on with the job' or 'having regard for others' (Brown 1988: 19). This distinction has turned out to be one of the most enduring features of much that has been written about groupwork.

Task interaction can be seen as including 'all group behaviour that is focussed principally on the group's work, projects, plans and goals' (Forsyth 2006: 10).

Relationship interaction (or socio-emotional interaction) is centred around the social and interpersonal aspects of group life.

This distinction has found its way into different aspects of practice - for example when thinking about leadership in groups (whether leaders focus on structure and task actions, or on the feelings and needs of the group members) (see, in particular, Hersey and Blanchard 1977). Thus actions can be categorized into whether they are concerned with task or maintenance (sometimes also described respectively as instrumental or expressive interventions) (Brown 1994: 71).

Group interdependence

As Robert S Baron et. al. (2003: 139) have argued it is a basic feature of groups that group members' outcomes often depend not only on their own actions, but also on the actions of others in the group. One member's feelings, experiences and actions can come to be influenced in whole or in part by others. In all this it is also helpful to take up a distinction formulated by Morton Deutsch (1949) (one of Lewin's graduate students) when looking at cooperation and competition in groups. He contrasted social interdependence - which exists when people share common goals and each person's outcomes are affected by the actions of others - with social dependence where the 'outcomes of one person are affected by the actions of a second person but not vice versa' (Johnson and Johnson 2003: 94; 2016).

Group structure

Most commentators on group process and group dynamics discuss group structure - but just what they include under this heading differs. Here we are going to follow Forsyth (2016) and define group structure as the '[n]orms, roles and stable patterns of relationship among the members of the group'.

Group size. An obvious but crucial consideration is the size of the group. Large groups function differently in a number of important respects to smaller groups. Size impacts on group communication, for example. In smaller groups a higher proportion of people are likely to participate - there is potential more time for each, and the smaller number of people involved means that speaking may not be as anxiety-making as in a large group. In addition, large groups are more likely to include people with a range of skills and this can allow for more specialization of labour. In addition, larger groups can also allow us to feel more anonymous. 'As a result, we may exhibit less social responsibility..., which in turn will often lead to less task involvement and lower morale on the part of many group members as size increases' (Baron 2003 et. al.: 7).

Group norms. Norms are basically rules of conduct that indicate what attitudes and behaviour might be expected or demanded in particular social situations and contexts. They are shared expectations of behaviour that set up what is desirable and appropriate in a particular setting or group. However, as soon as we talk about expected behaviour there is room for confusion. Here the norm is not referring to what is likely to occur, but what we think should occur. For example, we can expect a certain level of violence in town centres as the bars and clubs close, but most people would probably say that it shouldn't be happening.

Socially established 'and shared beliefs regarding what is normal, correct, true, moral and good generally have powerful effects on the thoughts and actions of group members' (Baron et. al. 2003: 6). Group norms develop in groups often because they are necessary for the group to survive and/or to achieve its ends. Group life is dependent upon trust and a certain amount of loyalty, for example. Furthermore, as Baron et al have commented, norms provide codes of behaviour that render social life more predictable and efficient' ( op. cit.). They also act to reduce uncertainty in difficult situations. They provide a way forward for interaction.

Roles. The bundle of expectations and attributes linked to a social position can be seen as a role. In groups, people expect certain sorts of behaviour from those they see as the leader, for example. Various different ways of conceptualizing role have emerged in the study of groups e.g. 'information giver', 'harmonizer', 'recorder' and so on. Some of these schemes are helpful, some are not - but what cannot be disputed is the significance of role in groups. Different people play different roles - sometimes these are assigned (such as the in the membership of committees), sometimes they emerge through interaction. As Johnson and Johnson (2003: 24; 2016) have put it, 'Roles define the formal structure of the group and differentiate one position from another'. Crucially, different social roles are often linked to different degrees of status and power within the group.

Group goals

An obvious, but sometimes overlooked, factor in group processes and dynamics is the reason why the group exists. What does it do for its members? What is its object? How did it come to be created? As Alvin Zander (1985: 1-13) has shown, the form that a group takes is often heavily dependent on its purpose. Moreover, a group will often have several and possibly conflicting purposes which can then become expressed as tensions between members.

Group goals are ideals - they are the ends (the aims or the outcomes) sought by the group and its members. They entail some sort of joint vision (Johnson and Johnson 2003: 73; 2016). Without some commitment to the pursuit of common goals the group will not survive or be effective (Benson 2001: 66). Of great significance then is what might be called goal structure. Here a key distinction is between cooperative and competitive goal structures:

A co-operative goal structure develops when the individual goals of members are visible and similar... A competitive goal structure emerges where the individual goals of members are hidden or seen as different or opposed. (Benson 2001: 67)

Hidden agendas can be very destructive and lead to conflict in the group.

Group cohesion

Forsyth (2006: 13) makes the point that 'Groups are not merely sets of aggregated, independent individuals; instead they are unified social entities. Groups cannot be reduced down to the level of the individual without losing information about the group unit, as a whole'. The notion of group cohesion - the forces or bonds that bind individuals to the collectivity - is fundamental to an appreciation of groups. In some groups the power of the bonds, the feelings that group members have for each other and the extent to which they are prepared to cooperate to achieve their goals will be slight. In others these may be seen as strong. Here the word 'seen' is significant - for it may well be that a group is not experienced by its members as particularly co-operative, for example, but they, and those looking on, may believe it to be a social entity, a whole.

There is a growing literature around 'group entitativity' - the degree to which something appears to be a unified entity. Another way of thinking about this is as the 'groupness' of the people you might be observing in a particular situation (Brown 1999). It was Donald T. Campbell (1958) who first used the term entitativity. He argued that when groups become real they possess the characteristics of entities (Forsyth 2006: 15). Campbell based his analysis on explorations into how the mind works when deciding when something is to be approached as a whole (a gestalt or something that cannot be described as the sum of its parts) or 'a random collection of unrelated elements' (Forsyth 2006: 15). When looking at people together in particular places (what he calls the 'aggregate') Campbell concluded that we depend on three main cues to make judgements about entitativity:

* Common fate - the extent to which individuals in the 'aggregate' seem to experience the same, or interrelated outcomes.

* Similarity - the extent to which the individuals display the same behaviours or resemble one another.

* Proximity - the distance among individuals in the 'aggregate' (or group). (described in Forsyth 2016: 16)

We might look, thus, at people seated around a table in a café or bar - we look at the extent to which they join in things together e.g. laughing, discussing; whether they acting in a similar way or have something in common e.g. in the way they dress, the things they have with them; and how closely they are sitting together.

Group development

Groups change over time. There is a real sense in which they are living things. They emerge, they exist, and they die. This phenomenon has led to the formulation of a wide range of theoretical models concerning developmental processes. Most commentators assume that groups go through a number of phases or stages if they exist for an extended period. It is clear, for example, that people tend to want to know something about the other members; have to develop a degree of interdependence in order that the group or team may achieve its tasks and be satisfying to its members; and has to learn at some level to deal with conflict if it is to survive. The most influential model of the developmental process - certainly in terms of its impact upon texts aimed at practitioners - has been that of Bruce W. Tuckman (1965). While there are various differences concerning the number of stages and their names - many have adopted a version of Tuckman's model - forming, storming, norming and performing.

He was later to add a fifth stage - adjourning (Tuckman and Jensen 1977) [all discussed at length in Bruce W. Tuckman - forming, storming norming and performing in groups].

Conclusion

From this brief overview we can see the significance of groups and why it may be important to intervene in them - both to strengthen their potential as sites of mutual aid and communal well-being, and to help them become more fulfilling to their individual members. They are a fundamental part of human experience and play a crucial role both in terms of shaping and influencing individual lives and society itself.

Humans are small group beings. We always have been and we always will be. The ubiquitousness of groups and the inevitability of being in them makes groups one of the most important factors in our lives. As the effectiveness of our groups goes, so goes the quality of our lives.

To ensure that groups are effective, members must be extremely competent in using small group skills. Humans are not born with these skills; they must be developed. (Johnson and Johnson 2003: 579; 581)

Those skills - and the attitudes, orientations and ideas associated with them - are learnt, predominantly, through experiencing group life. They can also be enhanced by the intervention of skilled leaders and facilitators - but that is another story [see working with groups].

Further reading and references

Forsyth, Donelson R. (2016). Group Dynamics 6e. Boston MA.: Centage. Pretty much the standard textbook on groups, it has gone from strength to strength through its four editions.

Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, F.P. (2016). Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills 12e. New York: Pearson. Still the best starting point for an exploration of groupwork practice. It begins by providing an overview of group dynamics and experiential learning and then looks at key dimensions of group experience and the role of the leader/facilitator.

References

Allport, F. H. (1924) Social Psychology. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Bales, Robert Freed (1950) Interaction Process Analysis: A method for the study of small groups. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Bales, Robert Freed (1999) Social Interaction Systems: Theory and measurement. New Brunswick, NJ.: Transaction.

Baron, Robert S and Norbert L Kerr (2003) Group Process, Group Decision, Group Action. 2e. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Benson, Jarlath. (2000). Working More Creatively with Groups. 2e. London: Routledge.

Benson, Jarlath. (2009). Working More Creatively with Groups. 3e. London: Routledge

Brown, Rupert (1999) Group processes: Dynamics within and between groups 2e. Oxford: WileyBlackwell.

Campbell, Douglas T. (1958) 'Common fate, similarity, and other indices of aggregates of persons as social entities', Behavioral Science 3: 14-25.

Cartwright, Dorwin and Alvin Zander (eds.) (1968) Group dynamics: research and theory 3e. London: Tavistock Publications.

Cooley, C. H. (1909) Social Organization. A study of the larger mind. New York: Scribners.

Deutsch, Morton (1949) 'A theory of cooperation and competition', Human Relations 2: 129-152.

Doel, Mark (2005) Using Groupwork. London: Routledge.

Durkheim, Émile (2002) Suicide. London: Routledge. [First published in 1897]

Forsyth, Donelson R. (1990) Group Dynamics 2e. Pacific Grove CA.: Brooks Cole.

Forsyth, Donelson R. (2006) Group Dynamics 4e [International Student Edition]. Belmont CA.: Thomson Wadsworth Publishing.

Forsyth, Donelson R. (2016). Group Dynamics 6e. Boston MA.: Centage.

Hersey Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth (1977) Management of Organizational Behaviour: Utilizing human resources. 3e. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice Hall.

Homans, George (1951) The Human Group, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Johnson, David W. and Frank P. Johnson (2003) Joining Together. Group theory and group skills 8e. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, F.P. (2016). Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills 12e. New York: Pearson.

Le Bon, Gustave (2006) The Crowd. A study of the popular mind. New York: Cosimo Books. [First published in English in 1896].

Lewin, Kurt (1948) Resolving social conflicts; selected papers on group dynamics. Gertrude W. Lewin (ed.). New York: Harper & Row, 1948.

Lewin, Kurt (1951) Field theory in social science; selected theoretical papers. D. Cartwright (ed.). New York: Harper & Row.

Lieberman, M. D. (2013). Social. Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mayo, Elton (1933) The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization. New York: Macmillan.

McDermott, Fiona (2002) Inside Group Work. A guide to reflective practice. Crow's-nest NSW.: Allen and Unwin.

Mills, Theodore M. (1967) The Sociology of Small Groups. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Surowiecki, James (2004) The Wisdom of Crowds. Why the many are smarter than the few. London: Abacus.

Thrasher, F. (1927) The Gang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Tuckman, Bruce W. (1965) 'Developmental sequence in small groups', Psychological Bulletin, 63, 384-399. The article was reprinted in Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal ? Number 3, Spring 2001 and is available as a Word document: http://dennislearningcenter.osu.edu/references/GROUP%20DEV%20ARTICLE.doc. Accessed January 14, 2005.

Tuckman, Bruce W., & Jensen, Mary Ann C. (1977). 'Stages of small group development revisited', Group and Organizational Studies, 2, 419- 427.

Turner, J. C. with M. A. Hogg (1987) Rediscovering the social group : a self-categorization theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Whyte, William Foote (1943, 1955, 1966, 1981, 1993) Street Corner Society: social structure of an Italian slum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Zander, Alvin (1985) The Purposes of Groups and Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Acknowledgements: Photo by Tegan Mierle on Unsplash

How to cite this article: Smith, Mark K. (2008, 2018). 'What is a group?', The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. [ www.infed.org/mobi/what-is-a-group/. Retrieved: insert date].

© Mark K Smith 2005, 2008, 2018

Last Updated on June 13, 2019 by infed.org

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contents: introduction · the development of thinking about groups · defining 'group' · types of group · the benefits and dangers of groups · some key dimensions of groups [ group interaction, group interdependence, group structure, group goals, group cohesiveness] · group development · conclusion · further reading and references · how to cite this article Groups are a fundamental part of social life.

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The video of our first group meeting 11/1/21

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The video of our first group meeting 11/1/21