The Center for Institutional Studies, Research, and Training (CERFI), a research cooperative co-founded by Félix Guattari in the wake of May 1968, sought to merge militant political practice with institutional psychotherapy. By adopting a model of 'analytical self-management,' the group utilized rotational roles and collective research to avoid the hierarchies and alienation typical of traditional academic and political organizations. This experimental structure was heavily influenced by the 'grid' system used at the La Borde psychiatric clinic, aiming to turn administrative labor into a tool for subjective liberation.
This history matters because it highlights a radical attempt to rethink the relationship between intellectual production, labor, and mental health. By treating the cooperative's internal organization as a site of 'schizoanalysis,' CERFI challenged the distinction between professional expertise and political activism. In an era of increasing institutional precarity and professional specialization, CERFI’s legacy offers a provocative model for how collective work can be structured to prioritize creativity and psychological transversality over bureaucratic efficiency.