Tongued with Fire

Gordon Lawrence was a managing partner of Social Dreaming Ltd, London, and a visiting professor at the University of Northumberland, Newcastle, the New Bulgarian University, Sofia, and at La Sapienza, the University of Rome. Formerly, he held a visiting professorship at Cranfield University, Bedford. He was on the editorial board of Free Associations (UK), Freie Assoziation (Germany) and Organizational and Social Dynamics (UK). He was a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Socio-Analysis and a Distinguished Member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations.

'He is known to almost all of us within the group relations work through his writings, many of which have become virtual staples in the courses we teach and the programs we offer... The collection of Gordon Lawrence's papers, assembled in this volume, spans two-and-a-half decades and addresses some of the most difficult, complex, and paradoxical aspects of the human condition. These are apprehended by his, in many ways, quite unique rendering of psychoanalysis as a tool of cultural inquiry into the operation of unconscious processes in the social arena.What is especially striking about Gordon Lawrence's work is not simply the brilliance of his ideas and the depth of his commitments, but the elegance of his language and concepts. We have all had the experience of enchantment as he wrote or talked about social dreaming, about the politics of salvation and the politics of revelation, about a memoir of the future, and about the management of oneself in role. In all these phrases, and the thinking behind them, Gordon Lawrence always seems to capture the deep resonance of our felt experience in a way that does indeed produce new thoughts, as well as the experience of being understood. One of his themes is that of 'surprising the soul', to which there are a range of references throughout the text. He has continually surprised all of ours since we have known him.'- Laurence J. Gould, from his Foreword

• 1 Thinking refracted 2 The management of oneself in role 3 Exploring the boundaries of the possible 4 Signals of transcendence 5 The fifth basic assumption with Alastair Bain & Laurence J. Gould 6 Beyond the frames 7 Emergent themes in group relations in chaotic times, 8 The politics of salvation and revelation in the practice of consultancy 9 To surprise the soul 10 Psychic and political relatedness in organizations 11 Tragedy: private trouble or public issue?