Psychoanalytic Politics

Freud prophesied in 1914 that the ``final decisive battle' for psychoanalysis would take place ``where the greatest resistance [had] been displayed.' Wary of America's too easy acceptance, he suspected a dilution and distortion of his most vital and therefore most unacceptable doctrines. Among Western countries, France may well be the one that resisted Freud the longest. Yet quite suddenly, in the late 1960s, France was seized by an ``infatuation with Freudianism.' By the end of that decade, France had more than a psychoanalytic movement: it had a widespread and deeply rooted psychoanalytic culture. At the heart of this development was Jacques Lacan's reconstruction of Freudian theory, a ``reinvention' of psychoanalysis that resonated with French culture in the aftermath of the uprisings of 1968. While, in America, psychoanalysis has become increasingly identified with an essentially conservative medical establishment, the French rediscovery of Freud, in a dramatic enactment of Freud's prophesy, became associated with the most radical elements of French philosophical and political life. The story of Lacan, and why his work so profoundly influenced the French psyche, is told clearly and unerringly by Sherry Turkle in this groundbreaking work. Already acclaimed as ``an absolutely indispensable contribution to the history of psychoanalysis,' this second edition of PSYCHOANALYTIC POLITICS contains two illuminating new additions. The preface explicates Lacan's impact on the French by laying out a theory of the conditions for the dissemination and acceptance of a set of philosophical positions by a culture. The final chapter, Dynasty 1991, provides a fascinating portrayal of the last years of Lacan's life, the intrigue and power struggles that resulted in the break-up of the Freudian School he founded, and the events which unfolded in the years following his death in 1981. The heart of the book is Sherry Turkle's first-hand account of the psychoanalytic culture that developed in France--as a politicized, Gallicized, and poeticized Freudianism, deeply marked by the work of Jacques Lacan. The clearest introduction in English to Lacan's teaching, the work explores how cultures appropriate theories of mind. It is an intimate sociology of how ideas come to connect with individuals. Providing an ``inner history' of the sciences of the mind, this book will be invaluable reading for anyone with an interest in psychoanalysis, history, social theory, communications, film theory, and contemporary literary criticism.

The emerging field of ‘psychoanalytic political theory’ has now reached a stage in its development and rapid evolution that deserves to be registered, systematically defined and critically evaluated. This Handbook provides the first reference volume which showcases the current state of psychoanalytic political theory, maps the genealogy of its development, identifies its conceptual and methodological resources and highlights its analytical innovations as well as its critical promise. The Handbook consists of 35 chapters offering original, comprehensive and critical reviews of this field of study. The chapters are divided into five thematic sections: Figures discusses the work of major psychoanalytic theorists who have influenced considerably the development of psychoanalytic political theory. Traditions genealogically recounts and critically reassesses the many attempts throughout the 20th century of experimenting with the articulation between psychoanalysis and political theory in a consistent way. Concepts asks what are the concepts that psychoanalysis offers for appropriation by political theory. Themes presents concrete examples of the ways in which psychoanalytic political theory can be productively applied in the analysis of racism, gender, nationalism, consumerism, etc. Challenges/Controversies captures the ways in which psychoanalytic political theory can lead the way towards theoretical and analytical innovation in many disciplinary fields dealing with cutting-edge issues. The Routledge Handbook of Psychoanalytic Political Theory will serve as scholarly reference volume for all students and researchers studying political theory, psychoanalysis, and the history of ideas.

Psychoanalysis has had a profound influence on twentieth-century thought in a wide variety of areas, from psychology and psychiatry to sociology, literature, feminism and politics. Most importantly, it offers insights into the relationship between individual subjectivity and social relations, making it a key discipline for understanding the links between social phenomena and personal experience. Since its first publication in 1987, The Politics of Psychoanalysis has been widely recognised as one of the best introductions to psychoanalytic theory from the point of view of its relevance for social relations. As well as describing Freud's work, it examines the basic assumptions and social implications of a broad spectrum of post-Freudian psychoanalytic thought, especially object relations, Kleinian and Lacanian theory. Feminist and critical psychoanalytic approaches are explored, along with questions of psychoanalytic practice andd its implications for social and personal change. For this second edition, the book has been thoroughly revised, with updated accounts of the theories covered in the first edition, plus new material on contemporary feminist psychoanalytic work and on the engagement of psychoanalysis with postmodernism. The result is a book that combines a lucid introduction to theory with a radical examination of the value of psychoanalysis for therapeutic and social practice.

Psychoanalysis and the Politics of Family aims to raise a sophisticated and highly accessible debate around the family, self-making and the political and cultural implications of liberation. The text proposes a new way to read the Lacanian theory of Oedipus and through this reading resituate a series of important political and theoretical debates that have concerned intellectual life over the last forty years. It is written with an accessible style so that both specialists in Lacanian and Marxist theory and a broader cross-section of readers interested in understanding the implications of debates across populist and Marxist perspectives that have occupied the global left since the 2008 economic crash. The text aims to resituate the way theories of emancipation and liberation are theorized from a distinctive psychoanalytic and Lacanian point of view. In resituating the infamous “Oedipus complex” in a new light, the text re-opens a series of debates with important theoretical interlocutors, including the influential American historian and psychoanalytic thinker Christopher Lasch, whose thought has witnessed a significant renaissance of interest today, to the staunch critic of Freud and Lacan, René Girard, to Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari and their widely read Anti-Oedipus series that disputes the Freudian and Lacanian notions of Oedipus.

An updated edition of the seminal book that explores why the interest in psychoanalysis in France exploded after 1968 and what it says about culture and therapy. Among Western countries, France may well be the one that resisted Freud the longest. But, in the late 1960s, France was seized by an infatuation with Freudianism. By the end of that decade, France had more than a psychoanalytic movement: it had a widespread and deeply rooted psychoanalytic culture. At the heart of this development was Jacques Lacan's reconstruction of Freudian theory, a reinvention of psychoanalysis that resonated with French culture in the aftermath of the uprisings of 1968. In Psychoanalytic Politics, the second edition of her groundbreaking work, Sherry Turkle tells the fascinating story of Lacan and why his work so profoundly influenced the French psyche. While in the United States psychoanalysis is identified with an essentially conservative medical establishment, the French rediscovery of Freud, in a dramatic enactment of Freud’s prophesy, became associated with the most radical elements of French philosophical and political life. In this book, Turkle provides a firsthand account of the psychoanalytic culture that developed in France—as a politicized, Gallicized, and poeticized Freudianism, deeply marked by the work of Jacques Lacan. The clearest introduction in English to Lacan's teaching, Psychoanalytic Politics explores how cultures appropriate theories of mind and how ideas come to connect with individuals. The book’s final chapter provides a fascinating portrayal of the last years of Lacan’s life—the intrigue and power struggles that resulted in the break-up of the Freudian School he founded and the events that unfolded in the years following his death in 1981. This edition includes a new preface by the author, reflecting on the origins of the book and its relevance for today: a time when the integration of thought and feeling, politics and self-examination is as urgent an endeavor as ever.

Do political concerns belong in psychodynamic treatment? How do class and politics shape the unconscious? The effects of an increasingly polarized, insecure and threatening world mean that the ideologically enforced split between the political order and personal life is becoming difficult to sustain. This book explores the impact of the social and political domains at the individual level. The contributions included in this volume describe how issues of class and politics, and the intense emotions they engender, emerge in the clinical setting and how psychotherapists can respectfully address them rather than deny their significance. They demonstrate how clinicians need to take into account the complex convergences between psychic and social reality in the clinical setting in order to help their patients understand the anxiety, fear, insecurity and anger caused by the complex relations of class and power. This examination of the psychodynamics of terror and aggression and the unconscious defences employed to deny reality offers powerful insights into the microscopic unconscious ways that ideology is enacted and lived. Psychoanalysis, Class and Politics will be of interest to all mental health professionals interested in improving their understanding of the ideological factors that impede or facilitate critical and engaged citizenship. It has a valuable contribution to make to the psychoanalytic enterprise, as well as to related scholarly and professional disciplines.

Over the past decade, psychoanalysis has been a focus of continuing controversy for feminism, and at the centre of debates in the humanities about how we read literature and culture. In these essays, Jacqueline Rose continues her engagement with these issues while arguing for a shift of attention - from an emphasis on sexuality as writing to the place of the unconscious in the furthest reaches of or cultural and political lives. With essays on war, capital punishment and the dispute over seduction in relation to Freud, she opens up the field of psychopolitics. Finally in two extended essays on Melanie Klein and her critics, she suggests that it is time for a radical rereading of Klein's work.

'Dynasty 1991', provides a portrayal of the last years of Lacan's life and the events that unfolded in the years following his death in 1981.