Psychoanalysis, Society, and the Inner World

This book examines social processes and institutions from a psychoanalytic perspective. Drawing on the work of major analytic thinkers such as Klein, Winnicott, Fairbairn and Bion, it offers a framework for thinking about the way social processes and institutions form part of the individual's inner world, and how the imperatives of our inner worlds in turn shape our social and political lives. This allows us to gain an understanding of the role of the self in driving social conflict, and how social institutions can either force the hiding of the true self, or facilitate creative living.

David P. Levine is Professor Emeritus at the University of Denver. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University and a Certificate in Psychoanalytic Scholarship from the Colorado Center for Psychoanalytic Studies. He has published extensively in the fields of economics, political economy, and on the application of psychoanalytic ideas to social issues and to the study of organizations.

Introduction PART ONE Applied Psychoanalysis Object Relations PART TWO Relating and Not Relating Ambivalence about the Self Moral Defense and Moral Order The Power of Words PART THREE Social Movements and the Method of Introspection Hate in Groups and the Struggle for Individual Identity Affordable Care Truth in Politics