Globalization forces the pace of work on what holds people together in groups.
Whether the scale is the nation, the global corporation, or the ad hoc work group, each group is held together by what can be referred to by the metaphor social software--the brain's response to symbolic cues from core images. They are experienced by us as the social imagining, which is
the implicitly shared meaning of who we are as a group.
The social imagining is the source for:
the authorization of thought and action
our sense of belonging.
Cultural history provides a practical frame for working with globalization It is a sound context for studying the way social software developed in different environments and the risks of ignoring it. But we need to know more about:
the history of consciousness
aesthetics and psychology—how we use symbols
earlier cultural watersheds
the biology of the brain.
Social software can be studied in theory and can be developed in practice. Once this site is properly established, it will demonstrate the uses of research into the way core images of cohesion were affected by change during several thousand years of Western culture. in:
development of social and organizational policy and practice
leadership for maintaining or restoring social cohesion
situation and problem analysis for groups and individuals.
Some practical methods for objectively applying the increasing body of knowledge of the individual and the group came about as a by-product of analysing more than 30 years of my research as a cultural historian working in management and governance. They are applicable in all the areas listed above. Background material on these and related topics from my book-in-preparation will soon be available on www.globalizingpsyche.com.