ABSTRACT
Psychoanalysis occupies somewhat of a strange position within contemporary socio-political theory. On one hand, psychoanalysis has long had an influence within the social sciences and social theory outside of the clinic. Although Freud’s early writings were concerned with the dreams and various neuroses of his patients, in his later years he turned to applying his model of the psyche to society writ large. Within socio-political theory more specifically, psychoanalyticallyinspired critical theory stretches back to at least the Frankfurt School tradition. Herbert Marcuse and Erich Fromm’s arguments about the psychical trade-offs within modern society, among others, illustrated that, at least for some scholars, the insights of psychoanalysis could be fruitfully taken outside of the clinic to understand broader societal dynamics. Habermas’s early work reconstructing psychoanalysis as an emancipatory guide continued these trajectories.1 An upshot of many of these seminal analyses was the argument that an understanding of the workings of the human psyche could make sense of otherwise puzzling tendencies surrounding issues of self and society, and freedom and repression. In contrast to more behavioral and objectivist approaches to political analysis, psychoanalytic socio-political theory offered an alternative that merged the social and the psychological in a way that not only highlighted problems, but offered ways of thinking about critical social practices aimed at negotiating or overcoming such challenges and realizing emancipatory visions. On the other hand, psychoanalysis in many ways remains a fairly marginal
approach within socio-political theory. Psychoanalysis aims to lay bare what are often uncomfortable truths. As Wolfenstein noted, psychoanalysis “reminds us of our immaturity, brings us back to painful experiences we would prefer to disregard, asks us to tolerate the very anxieties and our theoretical discourses have been structured to avoid.”2 Perhaps because of this, or because of the often
ambiguous epistemological status of psychoanalysis, or perhaps because psychoanalytic forays into social and political issues are often judged from the position of dominant rationalist and objectivist approaches of political science, psychoanalytically-inspired research often has trouble getting a hearing.3 To be sure, such research has sometimes tended to work against its own advocacy. The notion that phenomena at the “collective” level of society could be reduced by explanation via “individual” dynamics has often led to suspicion of applying psychoanalytic theory to society, and rightly so.4 Moreover, the idea that collective phenomena can be explained by reference to a collective psychical “unconscious” or “essence” is a contention that is now rightly avoided.5 Yet, even when contemporary psychoanalytic-inspired research works to avoid such pitfalls, it is often viewed with extra scrutiny compared to more conventional approaches, particularly when conflated with the reductionist tendencies of earlier efforts. Despite such challenges, psychoanalytic approaches have long been applied to
the interpretation of political texts,6 and have recently experienced somewhat of a resurgence during the past decade or so. Particularly in political theory, a variety of psychoanalytically inspired frameworks have recently proliferated which address in new ways a host of issues of traditional theoretical concern. For example, the so-called “Essex School” of discourse theory frequently deploys conceptual tools from Jacques Lacan’s social-psychoanalytical approach.7 Ernesto Laclau was the founder of the “Ideology and Discourse” program at Essex, and his most recent work is often explicitly Lacanian psychoanalytical, as is other work influenced by him.8 Slavoj Žižek has long drawn upon Lacanian theory to analyze politics, pop culture, religion, and other issues.9 Moreover, similar deployments of Lacanian theory can be found in recent international relations research.10 Of course, this focus on Lacanian-inspired research should not be taken as the only psychoanalytic-inspired approach to socio-political analysisFreudian, Kleinian, and other traditions have also been recently drawn upon as well.11 Yet, research inspired by Lacan seems to have gained steam and influence in recent years.12
