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The Tavistock Institute: Its History, Purpose and the Ideas Behind Its Influence

The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (TIHR) is one of Britain’s most unusual institutions. Its history intersects with psychiatry, psychoanalysis, sociology, organizational psychology, military studies, management, group dynamics, systems thinking and social research. It has also become the subject of an enormous amount of speculation. Some accounts portray the Tavistock Institute as a secret organization […]

Street Theater, Noise Campaigns and Organized Harassment: The Power of Plausible Deniability

Harassment does not always look like harassment. Sometimes it is an explicit threat. Sometimes it is a defamatory post, a threatening message or an unwanted visit. But some forms of intimidation are much less obvious. They operate through repetition, ambiguity, social pressure and carefully deniable behavior. A person may repeatedly encounter apparently ordinary incidents that, […]

What Does It Mean to Be an Activist? Risks in the Modern Era

Being an activist can mean many different things. It can mean standing in a street with a sign. It can mean volunteering in a community. It can mean speaking publicly about injustice. It can mean defending human rights, protecting the environment, helping vulnerable people, documenting abuses, making art, writing, organizing, educating others, or simply refusing […]

Why Isn’t There a Heterosexual Pride Parade?

I have always been interested in women. Throughout my life, I have had relationships with women, including many girlfriends who were around my own age, and heterosexuality has simply been a normal part of my identity. That has led me to wonder about something I’ve heard many other people ask: If there are LGBTQ+ Pride […]

Manufactured Mental Illness: Psychiatry, Diagnosis and Social Control

The phrase “manufactured mental illness” is not a standard psychiatric diagnosis or a formal clinical term. It is better understood as a question: Can social pressures, institutional practices, inaccurate assumptions, coercion, or misuse of psychiatric authority cause a person to be labeled as mentally ill when the evidence does not justify that conclusion? History shows […]

Street Theater, Noise Campaigns and Public Harassment: Tactics Used Against Activists

Activism takes place in public. That is one of the defining characteristics of civic participation. People gather in streets and squares. They march. They hold signs. They perform political theatre. They use music, speeches and loudspeakers. They organize demonstrations and public campaigns. These activities can be perfectly legitimate forms of freedom of expression and assembly. […]

10 Things Technology Can Do Today That Sound Like Science Fiction

There is a strange moment in technological history when reality starts sounding like science fiction. A machine can translate brain activity into spoken language. Scientists can transport antimatter in a vehicle. A laboratory can create conditions in which a tiny fusion reaction produces more energy than the laser energy delivered to its target. Humanity can […]

Psychotherapy: Understanding Therapy, How It Works and Why It Matters

Psychotherapy is often described simply as “talking to a therapist.” That description is not wrong, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Psychotherapy is a structured form of psychological treatment in which a trained professional works with a person to understand difficulties, develop coping strategies, change unhelpful patterns, process emotions, improve relationships, or address specific […]

Organized Harassment, Stalking by Proxy and Community Policing

Terms such as organized harassment, stalking by proxy, and community-oriented policing are increasingly encountered in discussions about personal safety, surveillance, online abuse, and relationships between individuals and institutions. They are sometimes presented as though they describe one unified phenomenon. They do not. Some are established concepts in law or academic research. Others are informal descriptions […]