IDEAS, NEWS AND RESOURCES | December 2021
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The Taos Institute's mission is to bring together scholars and practitioners concerned with the social processes essential for the construction of reason, knowledge, and human value, and their application in relational, collaborative and appreciative practices around the world. |
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The Many Ways to Get Involved! |
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Brief Encounter with The Taos Institute |
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"What does giving individual gifts have to do with celebrating relationships?"
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"Modern day trumpets that are sounding the call to maximize our individual wants and needs can be quieted by those voices that speak to harmonizing our lives with others." |
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A Gift
Taos Institute Board members and Faculty at University of Calgary
For us, this time of year includes many celebratory events—Thanksgiving, Dan’s birthday, Christmas, our wedding anniversary—that signal the importance of significant relationships in our lives and worlds. They mark in time relationships that we continue to enjoy, trust in, and grow. Our customary ways of noting these events of relational significance include sharing gifts. These gifts go from individual to individual—in our case, from Dan to Sally and from Sally to Dan. Individualizing the giving of gifts to each other is however, another way our individualizing culture/world we live in molds our interactions—relationships get celebrated by giving individual gifts. This got us to wondering: what does giving individual gifts have to do with celebrating relationships? We thought about how and why this practice has become so prominent and expected, and more interestingly, how it could be otherwise. We readily admit that we enjoy getting presents like everyone, but our curiosity led us to consider a couple of ways that the idea of celebrating relationships with gifts could be reimagined.
Our first idea was to consider ways that a gift could be given to a relationship rather than to individual members of relationships. Imagining this led us to consider the inherent materiality and temporality of the idea of a gift when we use it as a noun. A quick scan of synonyms for “gift” produces words that sound uncomfortably corporate or business-like: donation, contribution, endowment, alms, gratuity, tip, allowance, subsidy, bequest, inheritance. They all sound transactional, from one person or group to another. This, to us, does not embrace our idea of relationship. Rather, this tends to reinscribe the primacy of the individuals within relationships. We recognize that our world has collectively travelled a long way down this road of valorizing individualism and our point emphasizing the “spaces between people” may seem rather discordant with much of the world’s dominant discourses of individual achievement, autonomy, independence, and voice.
What if we were to shift our attention from thinking about gifts as things toward valuing the act of giving a gift as the noteworthy aspect? This could free us from just saving up for that one celebratory moment each year. “Giving to the relationship” could be a key component of the relationship itself, enacted in all we do all the time. We believe that a steady flow of relational “oxygen” keeps relationships alive and well. And as we continued our conversation, we put forward another idea: “what if we thought of our relationships as gift?” What might be the implications of this? We liked the spirit and feel of beginning to talk about this idea, but found that this will need more thought, reflection, and conversation. We will leave this one as sketchy as it is for now, for you to ponder.
The beauty of alternative conceptualizations rests in the possibilities brought forth, the paths illuminated. Modern day trumpets that are sounding the call to maximize our individual wants and needs can be quieted by those voices that speak to harmonizing our lives with others. We invite you to take a moment to shift your gaze from our individual lives to think about relational gift-giving and what that could mean for us in our worlds. We wondered, “What could make our relationships smile?”
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Harlene and Sheila will introduce, discuss, and provide opportunities to put constructionist theory to practice in this 3-day seminar (3 hours each day). Given the challenges we confront globally, discussion will center on exploring the practical implications of social construction while giving ample space for us to collaborate in an effort to put these ideas into practice. Special attention will be given to participants’ own projects and professional contexts.
This seminar will be useful for those familiar with social construction and relational practice as well as those new or unfamiliar with these ideas. This is an opportunity to be in conversation with others who are working in or who want to work in relational ways. It is a chance to forge connections that might help us sustain relational practices.
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Free webinar on January 19, 2022
10:00-11:30 am EST (New York time)
We enter an era of the unknown – global conditions move with unprecedented speed, unpredictably, disruptively, and uncontrollably. Conflict is unceasing and increasingly polarized. Global warming and the spread of deadly diseases are a threat to all. How are we to go on? One thing is clear: in these perilous conditions working together is imperative. As Gergen advances in this clear and compelling work, successful collaboration requires a radical transformation in our understanding of relationships. So long as we cling to the view that relationships are made up of separate entities – persons, communities, organizations or nations – our survival will be threatened. Rather, as Gergen proposes, we must reverse our understanding: it is out of the process of relating that emerges what we take to be the entities and their character. Care for the entities must be replaced by care for the process. This brief introduction to a relational perspective is bountifully illustrated with innovative practices – in education, healthcare, organizational development, peace building and more.
Join this conversation with author Ken Gergen to explore ways to enhance well-being through relational processes.
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Click here to buy the book prior to the conversation.
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All past Dialogue with the Authors webinars are available on YouTube!
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Relational Buddhism envisions Buddhist Psychology as a meta-view: mind is not gridlocked under-the-skin-in-the-skull-behind-the-eyeballs-in-between-the-ears but spaced in people’s interactivity. Relational Buddhism and Karma Transformation is the wedding of Pan-Buddhist teachings, Social Construction, and Relational Being as championed by Ken Gergen. Experiencing (action/emotion/cognition) is not prior to relational life but created, fashioned and sustained within relationship, inseparable from others and the world, and only meaningful in the interpersonal context and milieu where it occurs. Visit the Institute for Relational Buddhism website for related articles and videos.
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Positivity Strategist Podcast
In this episode, Gail Simon Ph.D. and Leah Salter Ph.D. invite us to acknowledge that we are merely co-inhabitors of this planet and introduce the concept of transmaterial worlding. This episode is one of the 10 conversations featured in Season 5 of the Positivity Strategist podcast: Constructionist Practices as Social Innovation.
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ISSUE 11 Available Now!
This free journal brings together members of a growing international community of practitioners, scholars, educators, researchers, and consultants interested in postmodern collaborative practices.
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FREE downloadable books in 12 different languages. Like all of the Taos Institute Publications, WorldShare Books represent significant contributions relevant to social constructionist theory and practice. With over 30 books in English and many more from around the world, you will enjoy reading about education, spirituality, organizational life, community building, group dynamics, leadership and more.
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By focusing on the positive aspects of aging and the availability of resources, skills, and resiliencies, research brings useful insights into the realm of practice, creates hope and empowers action among older people. By moving beyond practices of repair and prevention, to emphasize growth-enhancing activities, practitioners also contribute more effectively to the societal reconstruction of aging. For 20 years, late Taos Institute co-founder Mary Gergen, Ph.D. has inspired and driven the publication of this free newsletter - also translated in 9 languages!
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Access hundreds of articles and papers on topics such as:
- Appreciative Inquiry
- Collaborative Practices
- Dialogic Practices
- Creativity and Change
- Narrative Practices
- Relational Research
- Relational Learning
- Qualitative Research
- and so much more!
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Donate to the Taos Institute
In the current global context, the work in which we engage is more important than ever. You can make a difference by supporting our mission to create a promising future through social construction. Read more
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In loving memory of Taos Institute co-founder and board member Mary Gergen, Ph.D.. Mary was an innovator in feminist theory, social constructionism, and qualitative methods. She was an inspiration and mentor to thousands of people around the world. She deeply cared about making the world a better place and her contributions will be felt for generations. Read more
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