Explorations In Psychoanalytic Ethnography

Whereas most anthropological research is grounded in social, cultural and biological analysis of the human condition, this volume opens up a different approach: its concerns are the psychic depths of human cultural life-worlds as explored through psycho-analytic practice and/or the psychoanalytically framed ethnographic project. In fact, some contributors here argue that the anthropological interpretation of human existence is not sustainable without psychoanalysis; others take a less extreme radical stance but still maintain that the unconscious matrix of the human psyche and of the intersubjective (social) reality of any given cultural life-world is a vital domain of anthropological and sociological inquiry and understanding.

Whereas most anthropological research is grounded in social, cultural and biological analysis of the human condition, this volume opens up a different approach: its concerns are the psychic depths of human cultural life-worlds as explored through psycho-analytic practice and/or the psychoanalytically framed ethnographic project. In fact, some contributors here argue that the anthropological interpretation of human existence is not sustainable without psychoanalysis; others take a less extreme radical stance but still maintain that the unconscious matrix of the human psyche and of the intersubjective (social) reality of any given cultural life-world is a vital domain of anthropological and sociological inquiry and understanding.

Available for the first time in English, this is the definitive account of the practice of sexual slavery the Japanese military perpetrated during World War II by the researcher principally responsible for exposing the Japanese government's responsibility for these atrocities. The large scale imprisonment and rape of thousands of women, who were euphemistically called "comfort women" by the Japanese military, first seized public attention in 1991 when three Korean women filed suit in a Toyko District Court stating that they had been forced into sexual servitude and demanding compensation. Since then the comfort stations and their significance have been the subject of ongoing debate and intense activism in Japan, much if it inspired by Yoshimi's investigations. How large a role did the military, and by extension the government, play in setting up and administering these camps? What type of compensation, if any, are the victimized women due? These issues figure prominently in the current Japanese focus on public memory and arguments about the teaching and writing of history and are central to efforts to transform Japanese ways of remembering the war. Yoshimi Yoshiaki provides a wealth of documentation and testimony to prove the existence of some 2,000 centers where as many as 200,000 Korean, Filipina, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Burmese, Dutch, Australian, and some Japanese women were restrained for months and forced to engage in sexual activity with Japanese military personnel. Many of the women were teenagers, some as young as fourteen. To date, the Japanese government has neither admitted responsibility for creating the comfort station system nor given compensation directly to former comfort women. This English edition updates the Japanese edition originally published in 1995 and includes introductions by both the author and the translator placing the story in context for American readers.

The perennial interest in psychoanalysis shows no signs of abating and the longevity of psychoanalytic theory is seen in the varied extensions and elaborations of Freudian thinking in the fields of neuroscience and cognitive theory. Nevertheless, the scientific standing of psychoanalysis has long been questioned and developments in the fields of the philosophy of science and psychology require a fresh assessment of the scientific standing of psychoanalysis. While there are a range of views on the topic of whether psychoanalysis is in fact scientific, any satisfactory approach to understanding mind and behaviour requires an approach that is at once both philosophic and scientific. Accordingly, to even approach the question regarding the scientific nature of psychoanalysis, a foundation comprising a sophisticated conceptual and philosophical framework is required. This volume represents the junction where philosophy, science, and psychoanalysis meet and presents arguments critical and supportive of the scientific standing of psychoanalysis.

The second edition of this groundbreaking text represents a complete departure from the structure and format of its predecessor. Though still exhaustive in scope and designed to provide a knowledge base for a broad audience -- from the beginning student to the seasoned analyst or academician -- this revision emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of psychoanalytic thought and boldly focuses on current American psychoanalysis in all its conceptual and clinical diversity. This approach reflects the perspective of the two new co-editors, whose backgrounds in linguistics and social anthropology inform and enrich their clinical practice, and the six new section editors, who themselves reflect the diversity of backgrounds and thinking in contemporary American psychoanalysis. The book begins with Freud and his circle, and the origins of psychoanalysis, and goes on to explore its development in the post-Freud era. This general introduction orients the reader and helps to contextualize the six sections that follow. The most important tenets of psychoanalysis are defined and described in the "Core Concepts" section, including theories of motivation, unconscious processes, transference and countertransference, defense and resistance, and gender and sexuality). These eight chapters constitute an excellent introduction to the field of psychoanalysis. The "Schools of Thought" section features chapters on the most influential theories -- from object relations to self psychology, to attachment theory and relational psychoanalysis, and includes the contributions of Klein and Bion and of Lacan. Rather than making developmental theory a separate section, as in the last edition, developmental themes now permeate the "Schools of Thought" section and illuminate other theories and topics throughout the edition. Taking a more clinical turn, the "Treatment and Technique" section addresses critical subjects such as transference and countertransference; theories of therapeutic action; process, interpretation, and resistance, termination and reanalysis; combined psychoanalysis and psychopharmacotherapy, child analysis, ethics, and the relationship between psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy. A substantive, utterly current, and meticulously referenced section on "Research" provides an in-depth discussion of outcome, process, and developmental research. The section entitled "Psychoanalysis and Other Disciplines" takes the reader on a fascinating tour through the many fields that psychoanalysis has enriched and been enriched by, including the neurosciences, philosophy, anthropology, race/ethnicity, literature, visual arts, film, and music. A comprehensive Glossary completes this indispensable text. The Textbook of Psychoanalysis is the only comprehensive textbook of psychoanalysis available in the United States. This masterful revision will both instruct and engage those who are learning psychoanalysis, those who practice it, and those who apply its theories to related disciplines. Though always controversial, this model of the human psyche still provides the best and most comprehensive insight into human nature.

The 20th Century was marked by two profoundly different insights into human nature: one views each person as the product of unconscious desires, while the other sees the individual as the product of language and culture. While some still believe these two insights to be irreconcilable, many social scientists are attempting to integrate psychoanalysis into their culturally-bound research. In this groundbreaking new work, Anthony Molino has collected in-depth interviews with seven renowned anthropologists and social theorists: Marc Auge, Vincent Crapanzano, Kathering Ewing, Gananath Obeyesekere, Michael Rustin, Kathleen Stewart and Paul Williams. These dialogues, alongside essays by Molino, anthropologists Wesley Shumar and Waude Kracke, and psychoanalyst Lucia Villela, update the prevailing conceptions of psychoanalysis within anthropology, exploring distinctive psychoanalytic contributions and ethnographic theory and practice.

Sartre and No Child Left Behind: An Existential Psychoanalytic Anthropology of Urban Schooling asks two fundamental questions: “Who do students become as a result of inhabiting impoverished urban schools for eight hours a day, five days a week, over the course of several years? What happens to the hearts, minds, and spirits of these children?” Using nine months of field observation and interviews with students, teachers, and administrators at a New York City middle school—The Academy (pseudonym)—the book offers an in-depth analysis of students’ psychological and emotional experiences of the Title I school environment. Ultimately, the book demonstrates how the children’s experiences become a part of a vicious chain of events. The history of racial segregation guarantees inferior schooling conditions, and as a result, the students perform poorly; the school closes; gentrification efforts accelerate these closings; and ultimately, the school’s community dies a whisper-less death. Propelling the study is a new anthropological theory of human consciousness. By synthesizing the insights of Sartre, Africana existentialists, phenomenologists, and sociocultural anthropologists, Parker offers a preliminary outline for a theory that he names “existential psychoanalytic anthropology.” Based on Sartre’s existential psychoanalysis, which asserts that we choose who we are from a field of possible beings that we encounter in our cultural environment, existential psychoanalytic anthropology studies the complex ways that culture and consciousness work together to form an individual being.

The psychoanalytic unconscious is a slippery set of phenomena to pin down. There is not an accepted standard form of research, outside of the clinical practice of psychoanalysis. In this book a number of non-clinical methods for collecting data and analysing it are described. It represents the current situation on the way to an established methodology. The book provides a survey of methods in contemporary use and development. As well as the introductory survey, chapters have been written by researchers who have pioneered recent and effective methods and have extensive experience of those methods. It will serve as a gallery of illustrations from which to make the appropriate choice for a future research project. Methods of Research into the Unconscious: Applying Psychoanalytic Ideas to Social Science will be of great use for those aiming to start projects in the general area of psychoanalytic studies and for those in the human/social sciences who wish to include the unconscious as well as conscious functioning of their subjects.