ABSTRACT
It is no easy task to find the right yardstick to assess the nature and magni tude of the impact psychoanalysis has had on sociology and anthropology. At first glance, psychoanalysis has far from fulfilled its once auspicious promise to become an integral part of the social sciences and to make a profound contribution to the scientific study and understanding of society and its institutions. From the vantage point of its ardent proponents, the failure of psychoanalytic theory to become a cornerstone of sociological and anthropological analysis must appear disappointing indeed. And yet, on further examination, one can summon abundant evidence to testify for its success. Surely, no other intellectual discipline or body of thought which has emerged outside of the social science tradition (with the possible excep tion of mathematics) has entered the daily parlance and consciousness of social scientists or has so visibly pervaded their work. It is the intent of this chapter to consider some of the reasons for this paradox-the success and failure of so remarkable an intellectual achievement as psychoanalysis in its dialogue with the social scientists.
