Group Psychology and Political TheoryIn this innovative book, C. Fred Alford argues that the group - not the individual - is the most fundamental reality in society and that political theory has overlooked the insights of group psychology and leadership. Basing his argument on his experience with the Tavistock model of group learning (named for the institute in England where this method of group study originated), Alford asserts that small, unstructured, leaderless groups are the closest thing to the state of nature that political theorists write about. According to Alford, none of the familiar traditions in political theory - including modern state-of-nature theory, liberalism, communitarianism, postmodernism, and feminist theory - makes sense of the group experience. Most contemporary political theorists have erred in starting from the position of the individual and moving to an understanding of the individual's struggle to belong to the group and civil society. Instead, says Alford, political theorists should realize that the group is the state of nature, and that civil society is the product of the individual's struggle to separate from the group and develop a sense of self. Alford's book, like many of the traditional state-of-nature theories, includes an extended anthropological fable, a story about the state of nature that is intended to illustrate its principles. |
Contents
The Experience of the Small Group | 26 |
A Reinterpretation | 115 |
Leadership | 151 |
The Wolini | 184 |
Works Cited | 209 |
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Common terms and phrases
abstract argues argument aspects beast become bers Bion C. B. Macpherson calls chapter citizens civil society communitarian concept conflict confront constitutional liberalism consultant-leader desire developed group difference ego ideal experience fantasy fear forest freedom Freud group development group members group psychology group theory groupishness grouplike entities Hobbes Hobbes's human idea ideal identity ignore important indi individual and group individual member institutions interpretive leadership lead least live Locke Locke's longhouse Machiavelli means merely methodological individualism missing leader nature never Oakeshott participation Pateman perspective Philopoemen political theory postmodern projective identification Pufendorf rage Rawls Rawls's reality recognize regressed group relationship role Rousseau sacrifice sacrificial leader Sandel schizoid compromise seems sexual small group social contract sovereign Sowan split state-of-nature theorists story Tavistock group things tion traditional state-of-nature tribe understand Václav Havel vidual Winnicott Wolan Wolini women writes Xenophon