Opening the Tavistock Institute's Archives: Dialogue between Past and Present

This symposium demonstrates how social science consultants, associated with the traditions of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (TIHR) in London UK, are engaging with the past as they address issues of relevance and innovation during R&D projects in the present. From 2015, a collaboration with the Wellcome Trust rescued TIHR's archives as historically important contributions to the varied fields that comprise consultancy and action research for purposes of effectiveness and well-being of individuals, groups, organizations and society. This archival project stirred interest among scientific staff and professional partners to explore some combination of current practice and past action-oriented research. The coincidence of TIHR's 70th anniversary brought further resources to bear on explicitly linking current work with the materials now available from as far back as 1947 in TIHR's archives lodged at Wellcome Trust. Considering the NHS Citizen Project as Contemporary Interpretation of Socio-technica...