Organizational Change and the Analytic Third: Locating and Attending to Unconscious Organizational Psychodynamics

doi:10.1057/palgrave.pcs.2100116This article examines the concept of the analytic third in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytically informed organizational change. The analytic third is often defined as the psychological(triangular) space between self and other, subject and object, fantasy and reality - the third dimension that emerges from two persons fully engaged in the exploration of unconscious meanings, reasons, motives and actions. In neo-Kleinian object relations, it is viewed as the intersubjective dimension of transference and counter- transference, or the emergence in analytic work of the observation and experience of ''I-as-subject'' and ''Me-as-object''(Ogden, 1994). The analytic third is what we create when we make genuine contact with one another at a deeper emotional level of experience whether in dyads, groups, communities, or organizations. It might be understood as akin to but not synonymous with Winnicott's (1971) notion of the transitional and potential space, where culture, play, creativity and imagination,reside. A case illustration is provided to better articulate the nature of the analytic third in the processes of observing, participating, and intervening in organizations.Includes bibliographical reference

Organizational Immersion and Diagnosis: The Work of Harry Levinson

Further issues of the journal "Organisational and Social Dynamics: An International Journal of Psychoanalytic, Systemic and Group Relations Perspectives" may be found at http://karnacbooks.metapress.com/content/120476/?p=afbd0cccf1964497a232ef8eeea8d8eaπ=0In the following, I present readers with an overview of Harry Levinson's contributions to psychoanalytic organization psychology. Then, I share excerpts from an interview conducted with him in August 2002 during the American Psychological Association meetings in Chicago, Illinois. Finally, I provide a listing of his books and articles,which include published works not reviewed here. My intent is to offer readers a perspective on his impact on the psychoanalytic study of organizations.Includes bibliographical reference

Moral Violence in Organizations: Hierarchic Dominance and the Absence of Potential Space

Further issues of the journal "Organisational and Social Dynamics: An International Journal of Psychoanalytic, Systemic and Group Relations Perspectives" may be found at http://karnacbooks.metapress.com/content/120476/?p=afbd0cccf1964497a232ef8eeea8d8eaπ=0The authors introduce the concept of moral violence in organizations, by which they refer to emotionally and psychologically abusive and harmful workplace cultures. These narcissistic, organizational cultures, are, hierarchically, governed by arbitrary use of power and authority, sadistic-masochistic, relational patterns of dominance and submission, and an absence of potential space for dialogue and play. Providing several vignettes, the authors illustrate the prevalence of moral violence in managerial practices that result in dehumanizing and demoralizing the workforce. In so doing, the authors take an object relational and self-psychological, psychoanalytic perspective in understanding and working with morally violent organizations.Includes bibliographical reference

Surfacing Perversions of Democracy in the Workplace: A Contemporary Psychoanalytic Project

doi:10.1057/palgrave.pcs.2100064In this paper, we explore the psychodynamics of democracy in the workplace with a particular focus on unconscious and collusive forms of perverting democratic processes at work. We suggest that interpersonally and collectively the dialectical interplay between (1) autistic-contiguous, (2) paranoid-schizoid, and (3) depressive modes of experience and organized perceptions, which are necessary to the containment of divisions and conflicts in democratic organizations, is vulnerable to stress, anxiety, and psychological defenses that foster regression and collapse into more oppressive, authoritarian, and sadistic political cultures. With the objective of understanding perversions to democracy in the workplace, we find that a contemporary psychoanalytic view of organizations is more instructive than mainstream organization theory or that found in Foucault's writings on power and institutions.Includes bibliographical reference