Psychoanalysis and Democracy

In: Dissent: a journal devoted to radical ideas and the values of socialism and democracy, Band 46, S. 59-65

Abstract

Explores the controversy surrounding the opening of the exhibition, Freud: Conflict and Culture, at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, within the larger context of the current status of Sigmund Freud & psychoanalysis in US culture. Challenges raised to psychoanalysis from several fronts are examined, including (1) the feminist & lesbian/gay movements; (2) internal authoritarianism & insularity; (3) antipositivist trends; & (4) bureaucratic insistence on efficiency, effectiveness, & profitability. Psychoanalysis's focus on the "project of autonomy" is described, highlighting the theories of the late Cornelius Castoriadis. Ways in which the field might overcome its current crisis of legitimacy are suggested. K. Hyatt Stewart