Worldwork, developed by Arnold Mindell and his co-workers, is a way of working with conflict in the world.
"I define Worldwork as a multicultural, multi-levelled awareness process. It is a way of working with small and large groups of people."
"For me, the basic problem with democracy is that it is about power. It is not about awareness. Awareness is a very different kind of paradigm. Awareness has to do with noticing what is happening in yourself, in your interactions, awareness of your signal changes, awareness of your dreams, awareness of deepest things. So while cultures aim for democracy, we want deeper democracy in which awareness is central, not just power."
Arnold Mindell
Deep Democracy is an attitude according to which all individual experiences, feelings, believes, dreams, points of view, and attitudes are important and valued as parts of the whole. Deep Democracy in a group means making space for all the voices in the field and helping them to unfold and be expressed.
In practice, Worldwork takes the form of seminars of smaller or larger (up to a few hundred) groups of people meeting and working together in order to gain awareness about themselves, their political and social issues, their diversity, attitudes, feelings and dreams.
Process Work with Groups
A group, like an individual, has an identity, its primary process. It manifests itself through statements starting with "we": we are people who know how to work together, we are peaceful, we are task-oriented, and so on. Each group has also its "secondary process", the "not-we". The "not-we" stands for the ignored, rejected, the disavowed experiences, experiences that do not fit to the group identity. Secondary group processes are often experienced in gossiping, are carried by the group minority, or a scapegoat, and are often expressed by critics, felt in body symptoms and seen in dreams. Secondary processes are usually experienced as "disturbers" because they disrupt the primary process of a group. By discovering and integrating secondary processes, however, the group may transform, grow and change.
Group Process as a Form of Working with Groups
The linear group process consists of several steps:
1. Sorting
It is time to find out what themes or issues are present. The facilitator and the group try to see which issues hold the most energy.
2. Consensus
The group aims at agreeing what issue comes first.
3. Identifying Roles and Polarities
Issues are represented through roles or particular viewpoints. The roles, which are closer to the group's awareness, are expressed more readily and directly. Others, further away from the group's awareness, will be expressed later. Usually the role - a certain point of view or attitude - is accompanied by a complementary role. Some examples are insiders/outsiders, victim/victimizer, critic/criticized, and the like. It is the polarity between these viewpoints that often lies behind the tension felt in the group. The group works on the most apparent, most "vivid" polarity at any given moment. The initial viewpoints become clearer through opposing and unfolding each other, and often they change or merge. People may feel that they want to express one role and can suddenly find themselves switching to the other side.
4. Representing Ghost Roles
Ghost roles are mentioned or implied in people's statements and behaviour but not represented directly. For example, members of the group feel criticised but there is nobody who criticizes. The facilitator tries to express ghost roles in order for the process to unfold further.
5. Noticing edges and Hot Spots
The group edge describes the limits of group identity. If there are issues from the realm of "not us", which are nevertheless important to the group, we observe edge reaction or the so-called "hot spot". It is as if somebody has thrown a bomb, has said something that shouldn't be said, something that disturbs and challenges the group identity. It is important for a facilitator to notice such occurrences and stay with them in order that an issue may finally find expression and clarification.
Power and Rank
Awareness of rank is an important part of Worldwork.
Rank is a kind of power that a person possesses relative to others. It is the sum of one's privileges.
We are very often not aware of our rank and thus use it unconsciously. It might be very irritating or hurtful to those who possess a lower rank.
Typical forms of Rank
* Social Rank - Power that one possesses because for gender, race, education, financial status, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, health, and the like.
* Psychological Rank - Personal power that one gains through life experience, through dealing with life difficulties and challenges.
* Spiritual Rank - Power that comes from feeling connected to something divine, to the source of spirit, God, Nature.
