Collaborative Circles: Friendship Dynamics and Creative Work (review)

Collaborative Circles is an important advance in the sociology of creativity. Farrell develops his theory by comparing the histories of a number of collaborative groups, chiefly in art and literature, but also Sigmund Freud's early collaborations and the originators of the American women's movement. Such groups typically have three to five members, rarely more than seven or eight. Farrell argues that the group's lifetime, usually about 10 to 15 years, goes through seven stages:

(1) Formation occurs when a number of individuals of similar cultural resources and in an early career stage gather in a "magnet place," often introduced to each other by a gatekeeper, who acts as the center of a radial network. (2) Rebellion occurs against established authority; the group is negative before it becomes positive. Roles appear within the group: a charismatic leader, narcissistic and energetic, who is idealized by the others; a tyrant figure outside the group, vilified by their attacks; a "lightning rod" who epitomizes the group's rebellion by expressing anger, both against outsiders and by conveying criticism from outside into the group. (3) The quest stage is a period of negotiating a new vision through intense group discussions. Here appear "boundary marker" roles, members who become criticized either for being too conservative and selling out, or too radical and endangering the group by going too far. By comparison with these boundary markers, the group establishes its own central identity.

(4) Creative work now is done, following the group's program; most fruitfully, this is done by splitting into smaller collaborative pairs who paint or write side by side, correspond or discuss intensively; each gives the other emotional support and provides confidential criticism so that creative possibilities may be thrown open without inhibition. (5) In the collective action stage, the group acts together to present its work to the public: by staging painting exhibitions, editing a journal, or in the case of a social movement, holding public meetings. Now a central group role becomes that of the executive leader who manages practical activities. (6) In the separation stage, the group breaks apart; members individuate, establishing distinctive identities and styles, acquiring emotional maturity and losing the need for dependence; as some become publicly recognized, quarrels occur over individual credits; the practical exigencies of collective action, too, put additional strains on the group. (7) Years later, the group may reassemble for nostalgic reunion.

The seven stages are most fully represented in the French Impressionists. A number of stages (especially collective action and nostalgic reunion) are missing in other cases (e.g., the Oxford group of J.R.R.Tolkien and C.S. Lewis in the 1920s; Freud's collaborations with Joseph Breuer and with Wilhelm Fleiss in the 1890s; the Rye group around Henry James, Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford in the early 1900s). In the case of the American women's rights movement, the collective action stage is there from the very beginning; indeed, the movement follows the classic path of breaking away from prior social movements (temperance and slavery abolition). Farrell intends his model to contribute to a general theory of group development. It is useful to compare his findings to those of Mullins (Nicholas C. Mullins. Theories and Theory Groups in Contemporary American Sociology. Harper & Row, 1974) who studied "theory groups" in sociology, as well as the founders of molecular biology. Mullins depicts four stages: (1) small-informal group forms around an intellectual leader, in the midst of routine science. (2) This is supplemented by an organizational leader who establishes a formal research and training center; an intellectual program is now publicized, and new members are attracted, up to around 40. (3) The network widens through students and adherents; the program turns into dogma and is enshrined in textbooks; communications become more formal, and the core network becomes surrounded by a cluster of followers, with a total of 20-100. (4) Routinization sets in with success, and special...