GASi President

In this issue of Contexts there are contributions that reflect the work of developing Group Analysis in different conditions around the world. They add facets to the picture of what GA is becoming.

I frequently find myself grappling with questions about the meaning of ‘internationalism’ for us in GASi.  At one level this entails trying to form a picture of the ‘whole organisation’ that goes beyond the fragile structure of personal connections with individuals in different countries. Such personal connections are valuable and important but, as a basis for picturing what we are and what we are becoming, they are not enough.

There is a tension between relationships that are experienced as ‘local’ and the extended reality of an international association. None of it makes sense without awareness of the of the histories which burden our relationships. That awareness is always incomplete but our meetings contain the hope of better understanding.

The weekly meetings that we organised early in the pandemic and the Seasonal Gatherings that we have established this year have been useful; they allow us to ‘see’ some of the issues of inclusion and exclusion affecting our relationships within GASi. The conflicts that recur around the use of Chat in our meetings centre on different experiences of exclusion. The divisions over Chat express different responses to change, to disruptions of familiar boundaries and to new ways of communicating and registering presence. For some of us the struggle is to defend precious established values, for others it is to create spaces in our meetings for new figures to establish themselves.  So, there are issues of power and of tradition at stake – very important issues that we need to speak about in a spirit of respect for what is at stake for the other.

The forthcoming Seasonal Gathering will be an opportunity to think together about the forms of meetings that will sustain us through the next year.

David Glyn
gasipresident@gmail.com