The Reflective Citizen

'The Reflective Citizen takes a broad and thoughtful look at the range of issues that trouble us as a society. Using a group relations perspective, these authors open for examination the disturbing ways we collectively interfere with our own political and organizational lives. They illuminate how engagement is a central tool for competent citizenship, defining it as a mutually vulnerable and potentially terrifying opening up to the other. The book is recommended for managers, leaders, and students of social and organizational life.'- Edward R. Shapiro, MD, Medical Director/CEO, Austen Riggs Center, USA'This is a fascinating and absorbing read for those interested in how cutting edge theoretical developments apply to organizational life and contemporary society. I recommend this excellent book as a bridge between past and present, providing an opportunity to learn and reflect on how psychoanalytic and systems thinking impacts on our rapidly changing world, and on how we take up our roles as citizens of organizations and of the world.'- Olya Khaleelee, Corporate Psychologist and organizational consultant, Associate, Tavistock Institute of Human Relations'We live in times of unprecedented change. Globalization and hyper-connectivity bring people closer but make it harder to truly engage. The meaning of society and our experiences in it are ever more puzzling, eroding our ability to take up the role of active and responsible citizens. This interesting and timely collection, and the professional community which it celebrates, endeavour to examine the sentiment lying beneath the widespread veneer of numb individualism. Casting a light on the complex and often unconscious dynamics of contemporary society, this book enlightens, provokes and empowers. The articulate voices of its diverse group of authors showcase the value of reflective citizenship, demonstrating that it is not only possible today, but necessary and desirable.'- Gianpiero Petriglieri, M.D., Affiliate Professor of Organizational Behaviour, INSEAD, France'This book gives an account of dynamics in organizations and society and brings an excellent balance of theory and practice in the form of case studies from public health, business, and group relations. The authors cover a range of topics and bring a global perspective recognizing that we face the same dilemmas about values and ethics in professional life and in the role of organizational citizen. Working as organizational consultant it is very useful to have these valuable reflections upon how changes in modern society influence organizations and individuals working in them.'- Renate Gronvold Bugge. Director KOL AS (Crisis/Organization/Management), specialist in clinical psychology, specialist in occupational and organizational psychology, Norway