Between certainty and uncertainty--observations on psychoanalysis in Russia

'Diversity', the theme of our conference, carries a subversive sub-text in totalitarian societies. This is one of the themes presented as the current revival of psychoanalysis in the more democratic post-Communist Russia is explored. The history of psychoanalysis in Russia is summarized with a focus on its politicization, which led to initial interest in its theory (by way of a misapprehension of its tenets), and then to ultimate suppression of psychoanalytic thinking as an ideology deemed antagonistic to the totalitarian regime. In contrast, features of psychoanalysis and democracy are explored for their mutual affinities. The background of the resourceful new generation of analytic therapists is discussed, especially in regard to their experience of the parallel meanings of the word 'repression' (political, psychological). There is a persistence of some traits in patients and practitioners alike that are referable to past repression, such as the newness of verbal treatments, the inhibition of psychological curiosity, the ambivalent lure of certainty, and the pressure of authoritarian introjects. It is noted that psychoanalysis has its own history of a posture opposed to pluralism and diversity, which deepens the dialogue on the mutual engagement between psychoanalysis and the vicissitudes of its history in Russian culture.     

中国社会转型过程中的心理变化：社会学视角的研究及其对心理学家的启示

社会心理学有着社会学和心理学两种取向。虽然多数时候相对独立发展, 但两者都对现代化带来的社会转型和变迁非常关注。社会学家从社会或社会结构的变化和人的变化两个方面对社会转型进行了大量研究, 前者主要涉及城市(镇)化、社会阶层、社会流动性、家庭结构等, 后者主要涉及中国体验、社会心态、群体心理、组织心理等。总体上, 现有研究显示, 现代社会个体主义上升, 同时许多传统集体主义价值在日渐式微。和心理学取向的研究相比, 社会学取向的研究具有这些特点：倾向于采用本位概念、质性研究方法, 特别关注中观群体心理, 关注政治和政策影响, 更具历史宏观视野等, 这些都是心理学取向的社会心理学家需要学习和借鉴的地方。期待两种取向的社会心理学家在未来的研究中能有更多的合作, 共同促进对转型过程中的中国和中国人的理解。     

Introductory remarks by the issue editors: The multiple dimensions of the parent–baby story

Abstract

In their introductory remarks, the guest editors, themselves presenters at the conference “Parent–Infant Disturbance: Theory and Therapy,” introduce the philosophy and methodology underlying this interdisciplinary psychoanalytic conference and outline the multiple dimensions of the issue at hand, as they are addressed by the individual contributions to this volume. The paper concludes with a remembrance of and dedication to the victims of the Paris terrorist attack of November 13, 2015.     

“They hate me now but where was everyone when I needed them?”: Mass incarceration,projective identification,and social work praxis

Mass incarceration has been thoroughly explored as a racial, social, and economic project. A psychoanalytic lens makes visible another dimension: the ways in which the dehumanization and criminalization of certain members of society forces them to function as repositories for the unbearable aspects of our otherwise shared humanity. In this article, I take a psychodynamic social work perspective and explore how the creation and maintenance of traumatogenic conditions, and the criminalization of the adaptations that people make to them, enables the logic of mass incarceration by taking a problem in the environment—one that implicates the collective—and relocates it inside the individual—as a person to be punished. Applying the concept of projective identification to these social-level dynamics, I argue that mass incarceration serves an important psychological function for society related to anxieties about racial and economic inequality and, as such, we continue to invest in mass incarceration despite its failure. I discuss its implications for social work praxis, emphasizing the need for both meaningful thought and effective action. I take an interdisciplinary approach and rely on psychoanalysis, sociology, criminology, and critical race studies in the hope of making clear the pernicious hold that mass incarceration has on the United States, and the work we must do as a collective to wrest ourselves from it.     

Opening address by the IPA president to the conference on Parent–Infant Disturbance,Paris, November 13–14, 2015

Abstract

In his opening video address, Dr. Stefano Bolognini elaborates on “the social function of psychoanalysis in the field of psychic suffering in childhood and in adolescence.”     

The Authoritarian Personality: A Re-Review 46 Years Later

The author revisits his contemporary review of The Authoritarian Personality (TAP) in the light of subsequent developments in research and theory. In spite of warranted criticism of the F-scale, the major substantive findings of TAP have held up well. Whether they are better understood in terms of psychoanalytic psychodynamics or Bandura's social learning theory remains controversial. The role of the four authors is briefly examined.     

From Psychoanalysis to a Post-Foulkesian Group Analysis

This paper explores the relationship between individual psychoanalytic theory and that of Foulkesian group analytic theory. It traces some of the philosophical and metaphysical assumptions behind orthodox psychoanalytic theory, and discusses its implications for group analytic theory. The paper then describes some aspects of a post-Foulkesian group analytic theory which challenge these assumptions and argues for the socio-political to be given a constitutive role in the construction of the psyche.     

弗洛姆人本主义精神分析的启蒙价值

弗洛姆人本主义精神分析综合了欧洲文化传统的理性主义、人本主义、批判精神和救世情怀这些基本要素, 他试图用理性主义和人本主义的标准和精神分析心理学的工具来剖析他所处的社会和身边的人, 并探索实现理想社会和人的发展的途径。这一事业的价值实际上是启蒙。他从现代人的不安全感处境出发, 深刻分析了威权主义、民族主义、消费主义的病理机制, 进而提出了基于人本主义原则的社会改革方案。弗洛姆人本主义精神分析的理论和实践对于21世纪人类发展问题的解决仍然具有启发意义。     

从中亚东干人语言的变迁看文化适应

文化适应是一个描述民族文化关系的重要概念,它指的是两个或两个以上不同文化体系间由于持续接触、相互影响而造成一方或双方发生的大规模文化变迁。本文透过中亚东干人在不同民族文化的接触中其语言变迁的过程,对人类文化适应这一重要的文化现象进行了考察。笔者认为,东干人学习使用范围较广的其他民族语言的事实,不仅表现出其自身较强的文化适应性,而且反映出一种对本民族成员所需社会文化资源和未来发展机会的积极争取。     

Continued relevance of Dante Alighieri’s Comedy that transformed the soul and the culture

Abstract

The following essay is a modified version of an invited presentation given in Florence, Italy in May 2017. It builds on and extends some of the previous psychoanalytic and multidisciplinary studies of Dante’s Divine Comedy as a “psychoanalysis of the Middle Ages” that greatly contributed to the incipient changes of the cultural episteme. The paper will explore and elaborate the continued relevance of Dantian proto-psychoanalytic insight into the complex role of regression, destruction, transgression, and conflict in generating growth, expansion, and creativity, and the ways in which ethics and erotics intertwine in a complex path towards unity, within the context of his multivocal presubjective, intrasubjective, and intersubjective inquiry leading to psychic reorganization. The liminal nature of Dante’s poetry, extending the symbolic and representational range in a way unprecedented in the vernacular literature of his time, vivifying and representing what is traditionally thought of as beyond representation, will also be considered in terms of its relevance to the contemporary psychoanalytic discourse.     

IFPS 1960–1985: A new home for international and German psychoanalysis?

Abstract

The International Federation of Psychoanalytic Societies (IFPS) was established in 1962. The first 20 years of the Federation were a time when psychoanalysis was divided into so-called liberal and orthodox factions. The (then orthodox) International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) did not admit all psychoanalytic societies, and some societies did not want to join it. In the IFPS, non-IPA-psychoanalysts from Europe, the USA, and South and Middle America came together to discuss their new approaches to psychoanalysis and to find ways to better cope with their patients’ problems. At the beginning an informal organization of autonomous societies, the IFPS persisted for 12 years without a charter. The first three secretary generals came from the German Psychoanalytical Society and greatly influenced the first few years of the IFPS. The IFPS held several international conferences, and new psychoanalytic societies became members. In 1977, after the VIth Forum in Berlin, the IFPS fell into an identity crisis. The conflicts centered on the assumption of responsibility, the authority of the members, and how to understand the aim and sense of the organization. This article deals with the theoretical background of the early IFPS and the development of its self-concept.