This paper examines two workshops that brought together chief executive officers of large organizations and activists from community groups to promote better intergroup communications and long-term cooperation for social projects. The workshops are described as attempts to create cooperation between noninterdependent and unequally powerful groups. The events of the workshops—one a success and one a failure—are analyzed in terms of the evolution of boundaries and the development of power relations. The roles of third parties as influencers of boundary development and power asymmetries are discussed.
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