Introduction

This Introduction is designed to familiarize the reader with the rationale and organization of this handbook. It starts with a discussion of the various meanings and orientations of psychoanalytic political theory. It tackles both Freud’s placement and location against the rubric of psychoanalysis and politics as well as a series of post-Freudian traditions directly implicating the two, from Reich and Marcuse to the so-called Lacanian Left. In the last part, the overall structure of the handbook is presented and explained and its various sections are highlighted.