Enjoying what we don't have : the political project of psychoanalysis / Todd McGowan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGowan, Todd.

Series:

Symplokē studies in contemporary theory

Symploke studies in contemporary theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Psychoanalysis--Political aspects.

Psychoanalysis.

Loss (Psychology).

Psychoanalysis and culture.

Physical Description:

x, 349 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2013]

Summary:

Although there have been many attempts to apply the ideas of psychoanalysis to political thought, this book is the first to identify the political project inherent in the fundamental tenets of psychoanalysis. And this political project, Todd McGowan contends, provides an avenue for emancipatory politics after the failure of Marxism in the twentieth century. Where others seeking the political import of psychoanalysis have looked to Freud's early work on sexuality, McGowan focuses on Freud's discovery of the death drive and Jacques Lacan's elaboration of this concept. He argues that the self-destruction occurring as a result of the death drive is the foundational act of emancipation around which we should construct our political philosophy. Psychoanalysis offers the possibility for thinking about emancipation not as an act of overcoming loss but as the embrace of loss. It is only through the embrace of loss, McGowan suggests, that we find the path to enjoyment, and enjoyment is the determinative factor in all political struggles-and only in a political project that embraces the centrality of loss will we find a viable alternative to global capitalism. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Subjectivity

1 The Formation of Subjectivity 25

2 The Economics of the Drive 52

3 lass Status and Enjoyment 79

4 Sustaining Anxiety 99

5 Changing the World 121

Part II Society

6 The Appeal of Sacrifice 143

7 Against Knowledge 167

8 The Politics of Fantasy 196

9 Beyond Bare Life 223

10 The Necessity of Belief 243

11 The Case of the Missing Signifier 263.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780803245112

0803245114

OCLC:

815824881