Mutuality, reciprocity and mature relatedness: a psychodynamic perspective on sustainability

In the current thesis, sustainability is defined as a quest for meaningful co-existence within and amongst human systems, and between human and ecological systems. As a problem, sustainability is complex and multi-faceted; it involves an intricate web of connectedness amongst psycho-social and ecological issues. This complexity places sustainability in the inter-organisational domain, making collaboration by multiple stakeholders imperative. While self-evident, partnering for sustainability is not easy; it is replete with tension and contradiction. Tension in sustainability work derives from the inherently paradoxical nature of (i) human-nature relations (ii) collective life and (iii) the inter-organisational domain. This sets the scene for heightened anxiety and complex conscious and unconscious dynamics. These, if not adequately processed, can derail collaborative effort and render the sustainability project both unsustaining and unsustainable. In the following discussion, I seek to demonstrate how psychodynamic theory can be extended from social to human-nature relations. Early object relations theory is presented to argue that escalating social and ecological degradation represent an inherent human capacity for destructiveness, and, sustainability an innate human capacity for reparation. I suggest parallels between the destructiveness that has been one of the hallmarks of industrialisation, and the mental functioning of the infant during early infancy. I then highlight parallels between reparative acts observed in later infancy and sustainability initiatives to argue that sustainability potentially represents a quest for individual and collective maturity. Acknowledging that duality is an inherent part of human existence, I use social defense theory and intersubjectivity to explore the regressive and developmental aspects of sustainability, respectively. Specifically, I use social defense theory to make sense of the nature of anxiety and the defensive dynamics that attend sustainability work. Intersubjectivity, in particular, notions of mutuality, reciprocity and receptivity are presented as useful concepts for thinking about sophisticated ways of being and being with others, including inanimate others. I argue that the relational capacities suggested by intersubjectivity are the essence of meaningful co-existence; they are the essence of sustainability. The current thesis explores the psychodynamics of partnering for sustainability within a consortium case study. A key finding of the research is that without a facilitative process, and confronted by paradoxical phenomena, the participants were unable to negotiate and sustain meaningful collaborative relationships. To cope with anxiety, they resorted to a range of individual and collective defenses. While improvements in the relational dynamics could be observed over time, these fell short of the kind of mature relatedness that sustainability requires. Herein is a narrative about a consortium case study that was unable to sustain itself as it strove to promote sustainability.