TY - JOUR AU - Bockler, Jessica PY - 2022/11/30 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Group Coherence: Its Shadow and Its Generative Potential JF - Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change JA - JASC VL - 2 IS - 2 SE - Discussant to In the Making DO - 10.47061/jasc.v2i2.5059 UR - https://jabsc.org/index.php/jabsc/article/view/5059 SP - 173-182 AB - <p>The purpose of this commentary is to offer reflections on the phenomenological inquiry undertaken by Guenther (2022), exploring the nature and potential of group coherence in addressing our global meta-crises. I deepen the discourse in three interrelated areas, to expand our understanding of collective coherence and to explore how we can approach researching it.</p><p>Firstly, I highlight research, mapping the evidence for consciousness-based practices in engendering greater social harmony and coherence. Secondly, I shine a light onto the shadow sides of coherence and how the power of coherence may be abused for ill purposes. I argue that the cultivation of coherence must not only involve consciousness-raising practices, but that it must also entail direct engagement with social and systemic wounds and fragmentation. Thirdly, I call for multi-faceted forms of research, to enable us to gain a deeper appreciation of group coherence in varied life contexts. Building on Guenther’s vision, I affirm that this research must invite alternative and participatory ways of knowing, so that a multiplicity of voices, inner and outer, are heard and honoured in action.  </p> ER -