Social Dreaming

The idea of social dreaming argues that dreams are relevant to the wider social sphere and have a collective resonance that goes beyond the personal narrative. In this fascinating collection, the principles of social dreaming are explored to uncover shared anxieties and prejudices, suggest likely responses, enhance cultural surveys, inform managerial policies and embody community affiliation. Including, for the first time, a coherent epistemology to support the theoretical principles of the field, the book reflects upon and extends the theory and philosophy behind the method, as well as discussing new research in the area, and how social dreaming practice is conducted in a range of localities, situations and circumstances. The book will appeal to anyone interested in the idea that social dreaming can help us to delve deeper into the question of what it means to be human, from psychoanalysts to sociologists and beyond.

Dr. Susan Long is Director of Research at the National Institute for Organisation Dynamics Australia. She conducts research in organisational change and collaborative dynamics, and supervises research candidates (susan.long@nioda.org.au). She is president of the Gordon Lawrence Foundation for the promotion of social dreaming and a past president of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organisations. She is also an organisational consultant in private practice. Dr. Julian Manley works at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. His research focusses on psychosocial applications of visual methods and Deleuzian perspectives, with a particular emphasis on social dreaming. He is Vice-Chair and Academic Research Lead of the Gordon Lawrence Foundation for the Promotion of Social Dreaming.

Dedication Preface Author Biographies Introduction Section 1. Towards a Philosophy of Science in Support of Social Dreaming Chapter 1 Dreams and Dreaming: A Socioanalytic and Semiotic Perspective Chapter 2 Associative Thinking: A Deleuzian Perspective on Social Dreaming Section 2. The Nature and Processes of Social Dreaming: Theory and Research Chapter 3 The Dreaming Body Yearning to Belong to a Larger Social Body Chapter 4 Renewing the Land: The Dreaming Mind in Community Chapter 5 An Integrative Theory of Dreaming Underlying Social Dreaming Chapter 6 An Action Research Study of Dream-Sharing as Socially-Constituted Practice Chapter 7 Festino di San Silvestro: Rites and Social Dreaming Chapter 8 Looking for Treasure in Dream Water Section 3. Social Dreaming Practice Chapter 9 "Are You Sharing a Dream?" - Social Dreaming in a Community Chapter 10 London Dreaming Chapter 11 Social Spaces for Social Dreaming Chapter 12 Peripatetic Social Dreaming: An Exploration of Social Dreaming Outside a Formal Social Dreaming Setting Chapter 13 Dreams, Space, Context and Identity in the Workplace Chapter 14 What Now? Future Dreams