Open lectures: thinking about organisations – December 2024

Join our livestream to hear Professor Marianna Fotaki explore ‘Political care from a psychoanalytic perspective’.

In this new series of open lectures, our Advanced practice and research: consultation and the organisation (D10D) team welcome eminent external speakers to present on a range of themes related to organisational and social dynamics.

In this lecture, taking place on Thursday 12 December 2024, Professor Marianna Fotaki will present on ‘Political care from a psychoanalytic perspective’.

Students and members of staff at The Tavistock and Portman are invited to attend the lecture in-person, while others are welcome to join this livestream via Zoom.

About this lecture:

“Care is a human need and capacity without which we cannot survive and flourish. However, care is often underpaid and considered an excessive economic burden despite being socially valued. Philosophical and political perspectives on vulnerability are essential for understanding the continuous undermining of care in organizations and society. I draw on the feminist psychoanalytic idea of embodied vulnerability, defined as our intrinsic dependence on others, and explain the ambivalence surrounding care in contemporary societies and organizations. This dependency is erroneously associated with a weakness we must avoid or ignore. Neoliberal ideology – a dominant influence permeating public life – casts such interdependency as a moral failure and juxtaposes it with the fantasy of the rational individual, who is disembodied and free of any social obligations. I challenge this view and argue for a deeper social and political conceptualization of care. To do so, I bring in psychoanalytic insights as a footing for this conceptualization and elaborate on how this would allow us to reframe care not only as residing in the fabric of relations underpinning organizations and society but as, in an existential sense, giving life to them. I conclude my talk by discussing how such an expanded and holistic view of care might help us address our societies’ profound challenges.”

Professor Marianna Fotaki

About this speaker:

Professor Marianna Fotaki holds medical, public health, and health economics degrees and obtained her Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Before joining academia, she worked for Médecins sans Frontiers and Médecins du Monde on the Turkish-Iraqi border and in Albania, and as a senior adviser in the European Union projects in Russia, Armenia, and Georgia. She has published over 100 articles on gender, inequalities, and the marketization of public services, appearing in leading international journals, and has also published a number of books. Marianna’s current research centers on the caring economy, digitalization’s impact on the future of care, and responses to refugee and migrant arrivals in Europe.

Who is this event for?

This livestream is open to anyone who may be interested in hearing about some of the latest ideas and developments in organisational and social dynamics – including leaders, managers, coaches, consultants, and those considering this area for future training or research.

Students and members of staff at The Tavistock and Portman are invited to attend this event in-person, while others are welcome to join our livestream via Zoom.

Event details

  • This open lecture will take place on Thursday 12 December 2024 from 5.00pm to 6.30pm
  • The open lecture will be livestreamed via Zoom
  • The livestream is free to join, but you must register to secure your place
  • Joining details will be emailed to you after you have signed up.

Sign up

 *
 *
 *
 *
name@company.com
 *
 *
We will contact you with joining information and reminders as this event approaches.
 *

For a better viewing experience we recommend you upgrade your browser.