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"Political Pathologies from The Sopranos to Succession argues that highly praised prestige TV shows reveal the underlying fantasies and contradictions of upper-middle class political centrists. Through a psychoanalytic interpretation of The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Wire, House of Cards, Dexter, Game of Thrones, and Succession, Robert Samuels reveals how moderate "liberals" have helped to produce and maintain the libertarian Right. Samuels' analysis explores the difference between contemporary centrists and the foundations of liberal democracy, exposing the myth of the "liberal media" and considers the consequences of these celebrated series, including the undermining of trust in modern liberal democratic institutions. Political Pathologies from The Sopranos to Succession contributes to a greater understanding of the ways media and political ideology can circulate on a global level through the psychopathology of class consciousness. This book will be of great interest to academics and scholars considering intersections of psychoanalytic studies, television studies and politics"--

"Political Pathologies from The Sopranos to Succession argues that highly praised prestige TV shows reveal the underlying fantasies and contradictions of upper-middle class political centrists. Through a psychoanalytic interpretation of The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Wire, House of Cards, Dexter, Game of Thrones, and Succession, Robert Samuels reveals how moderate "liberals" have helped to produce and maintain the libertarian Right. Samuels' analysis explores the difference between contemporary centrists and the foundations of liberal democracy, exposing the myth of the "liberal media" and considers the consequences of these celebrated series, including the undermining of trust in modern liberal democratic institutions. Political Pathologies from The Sopranos to Succession contributes to a greater understanding of the ways media and political ideology can circulate on a global level through the psychopathology of class consciousness. This book will be of great interest to academics and scholars considering intersections of psychoanalytic studies, television studies and politics"--

Introduction -- Jonathan Haidt and the five political ideologies -- On the psychopathology of polarization -- Understanding the psychopathology of the right -- The hysterical left and the narcissistic center -- The anti-ideology ideology : re-discovering the Enlightenment -- Conclusion.

Introduction -- Gen X Goes to College -- The Nirvana Principle -- Reality Bites -- Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Gen X Cynical Opportunism -- Pulp Fiction and Gen X Romanticism -- Do the Right Thing and the Politics of Representation -- Amusing Gen X to Death -- Conclusion.

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- Chapter 2 Jonathan Haidt and the Five Political Ideologies -- Chapter 3 On the Psychopathology of Polarization -- Chapter 4 Understanding the Psychopathology of the Right -- Chapter 5 The Hysterical Left and the Narcissistic Center -- Chapter 6 The Anti-Ideology Ideology: Re-Discovering the Enlightenment -- Chapter 7 Conclusion -- Index.

"Inspired by Freud's The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, this book examines the unconscious processes shaping contemporary political ideologies. Addressing ten fundamental questions, Robert Samuels identifies four basic political ideologies: liberal, conservative, Left, and Right, which are often placed in the structure of a logical square, determined by two binary oppositions, with a fifth structure of centrism complicating the square. He turns to psychoanalysis to explain the unconscious defense mechanisms that structure these political ideologies. Each chapter uses a recent, influential title as a gateway to analysis of the ideologies and structures identified. Through this analysis, Samuels argues that belief in ideological structures is tied to triumvirates of institutions and ideals; conservatives being tied to premodern institutions of religion, feudalism, and monarchy, while modern liberals are tied to ideals of universality, objectivity, and empiricism. He concludes that this investment in universality shapes the ethics of modern globalization and democratic liberalism. Unlike other books, conclusions are reinforced through examples drawn from current events with an integrated model of different psychopathologies. The Psychopathology of Political Ideologies moves beyond providing an understanding of what drives different political investments, to offer a more rational and conscious comprehension of subjectivity and social organization. will be a great resource for those interested in politics, political science psychology, social psychology, globalization, and ideology"--

The politics of higher education -- College and the myth of the good job -- Why higher education reduces social mobility -- The myth of the fair meritocracy -- How college changed childhood, education, and parenting in America -- Training undemocratic capitalists -- The death of the liberal classroom -- Will technology and the free market save higher ed and the job market? -- Conclusion : educating equality

Intro -- Contents -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Damasio's Error: The Politics of Biological Determinism After Freud -- The Evolutionary Foundation -- The Neuroliberal Culture of Narcissism -- Misreading Descartes -- What Descartes Really Wrote -- The Story of Repetition -- Science Fictions -- Chapter 3: The Backlash Politics of Evolutionary Psychology: Steven Pinker's Blank Slate -- Nature or Nurture Again -- The Ideology of Non-ideology -- The Blank Slate of Democracy -- Against the Primitive -- The Neuroliberal Brain -- Losing the Self and the Unconscious -- Chapter 4: Behavioral Economics: Nudge and Technocratic Liberalism -- The Libertarian Consensus -- The Split Brain -- The Science of Social Conformity -- The Liberal in the Neuroliberalism -- Lacan's Critique of Liberal Conformity -- Chapter 5: The Brain Sciences Against the Welfare State -- The Question of Welfare -- Universal Human Nature -- Psychoanalysis Versus Biological Determinism -- Against Ideology -- Forgetting Culture -- The Psychoanalysis of Emotions -- Contempt for the Other -- Naturalizing Neoliberalism -- Neoliberal Science -- The Biological Unconscious -- Punishing Welfare Snakes -- Chapter 6: Drugging Discontent: Psychoanalysis, Drives, and the Governmental University Medical Pharmaceutical Complex (GUMP) -- Naturalizing the Social -- The Basic Argument -- GUMP and Medicalizing Mental Disorders -- The Psychiatric Narrative -- The DSM Against Psychoanalysis -- A New Anti-psychiatry? -- Medicating Neoliberalism -- Freud Against GUMP -- Chapter 7: Conclusion -- Index

Psychoanalyzing the Left and Right After Donald Trump -- Contents -- 1 Introduction -- Outline of Chapters -- Notes -- 2 Victim Politics: Psychoanalyzing the Neoliberal Conservative Counter-Revolution -- Imaginary Politics -- Frank's Pity -- A Brief History of American Victimhood -- The Political is Personal -- Hystories -- Exploring Unconscious Racism -- Notes -- 3 Beyond Hillary Clinton: Obsessional Narcissism and the Failure of the Liberal Class -- Obsessional Narcissism -- The Culture of Meritocratic Narcissism -- The Poverty of Liberalism -- Obsessional Understanding

This book outlines a new model for global social justice movements that is based on Freud and Lacan's central insights regarding the unconscious, repetition, drives, and transference. Since most of our current social issues are global in nature, Bob Samuels convincingly argues that we need a global solution, but that global solidarity is blocked by narcissistic nationalism and the capitalist death drive. In examining contemporary social movements for global justice, Samuels articulates a comprehensive theory of non-pathological social solidarity, and argues that in the age of multinational corporations and global climate change, we need a new model of global justice and government that requires an understanding of analytic neutrality and free association. This book uses psychoanalytic theories and practices to explain how someone like Trump can rise to power, and explores why liberals have failed to provide a convincing or effective political alternative. It will be compelling reading to students and teachers in a range of psychological and political disciplines, and to anyone interested in psychoanalysis and current politics. Robert Samuels teaches writing at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. He is also President of UC-AFT, the union representing 4,000 librarians and lecturers (non-tenured faculty) in the UC system, and has authored seven books, including Why Public Higher Education Should Be Free.

This book argues that we have moved into a new cultural period, automodernity, which represents a social, psychological, and technological reaction to postmodernity. In fact, by showing how individual autonomy is now being generated through technological and cultural automation, Samuels posits that we must rethink modernity and postmodernity.

This issue of Radical Teacher focuses on why we should teach courses and collaborate with students in research in Critical University Studies (CUS)— a handy label, but please take "university" is a stand-in for many kinds of post-secondary institution.