Beneath the Crust of Culture : Psychoanalytic Anthropology and the Cultural Unconscious in American Life / Howard F. Stein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stein, Howard F., author.

Series:

Contemporary psychoanalytic studies ; Volume 1.

Contemporary Psychoanalytic Studies ; Volume 1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnology.

Ethnopsychology--United States.

Ethnopsychology.

Psychoanalysis.

Social psychology.

Subconsciousness.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam, Netherlands : Editions Rodopi B.V., [2004]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this book, the author presents a pioneering interpretation of culture as constituting a dynamic relationship between the visible "crust" and the elusive "core" of social life. He meticulously maps the role of the unconscious in shaping much of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He crosses and transcends disciplinary boundaries in studies of September 11, 2001, the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, the execution of Timothy McVeigh, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the 1999 Worcester, Massachusetts fire, and the eruption of hypernationalism and xenophobia in nations and workplaces - all as cultural phenomena with a psychodynamic core. He shows how the experience of loss in the face of massive social change often leads to equally massive defence against the experience of mourning. Beneath the Crust of Culture will be of interest not only for behavioural and social science professionals, but also for a lay public interested in understandings of culture deeper than the surface of the news and of official pronouncements.

Contents:

FOREWORD by Jon Mills

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ONE: Days of Awe: September 11, 2001 and Its Cultural Psychodynamics

TWO: Disposable Youth: The 1999 Columbine High School Massacre as American Metaphor

THREE: The Execution of Timothy McVeigh: Cultural Mystification and Deeper Clues

FOUR: Hypernationalism and Xenophobia in Workplace and Nation State

FIVE: The Left Out and the Forgotten: An Approach to Understanding Disasters

SIX: Mourning and Society: Situating Loss and Grief in the History and Philosophy of Science

EPILOGUE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

REFERENCES

INDEX.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9789401200899

9401200890

9781417558681

1417558687

OCLC:

57067044

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789401200899 DOI