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Sigmund Freud as a Critical Social Theorist
Psychoanalysis and the Neurotic in Contemporary Society
Series: - Studies in Critical Social Sciences, Volume: 305
Sigmund Freud’s work has influenced the modern world in many profound ways. The “father of psychoanalysis,” Freud wrote numerous works wherein his psychoanalytic perspectives were applied to history, society, religion, and other cultural phenomenon. By expanding his psychoanalytic theories into these realms, Freud insured his place within the disciplines of philosophy, sociology, history, theology, and religious studies, wherein his works are still studied. More specifically, his psychoanalytic theories were adopted, revised, and expanded upon by philosophers and sociologists, such as Theodor W. Adorno, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, Jürgen Habermas, Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva, Gilles Deleuze, Judith Butler, Slavoj Žižek, and many others, who in some cases radicalized the latent political content within Freud’s thought, using it to critique modern industrialized capitalism and theorize about the possibility for alternative forms of societies more conducive towards mental health. Although Freud is often marginalized, or even denigrated, we think there are still elements within the corpus of Freud’s work that are valuable for both diagnosing social problems and addressing such problems psychoanalytically. The book demonstrates the lasting relevancy of Freud’s thought to a variety of disciplines, as they diagnose a myriad of social issues.
Dustin J. Byrd, Ph.D. (2017), Michigan State University, is Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at The University of Olivet. He is the Founder and Co-Director of the Institute for Critical Social Theory, and the Editor-in-Chief of Ekpyrosis Press. He has published numerous monographs, edited volumes, and articles of the subjects of Psychoanalysis, political philosophy, Critical Theory, and the Critical Theory of Religion. His latest books include:
Syed Hussein Alatas and Critical Social Theory: Decolonizing the Captive Mind (Brill, 2022);
The Dark Charisma of Donald Trump: Political Psychology and the MAGA Movement (Ekpyrosis Press, 2023);
The Frankfurt School and the Dialectics of Religion: Translating Critical Faith into Critical Theory (Ekpyrosis Press, 2020),
The Critique of Religion and Religion’s Critique: On Dialectical Religiology (Brill, 2020), and
Frantz Fanon and Emancipatory Social Theory: A View from the Wretched (Brill, 2020).
Seyed Javad Miri, Ph.D., is a Swedish-Iranian sociologist, public intellectual and Professor of sociology at the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies in Tehran-Iran. He is known for his expertise on social theory and Islamic and critical thinkers. He is also the Co-Director of the Institute for Critical Social Theory. He has published over 100 books in English, Persian and Swedish. His recent publications include Ali Shariati: Critical Theory and the Struggle for Decolonization and Socio-Analysis: A Theory on Emancipation and Pain (in Persian).
Seyed Javad Miri, Ph.D., is a Swedish-Iranian sociologist, public intellectual and Professor of sociology at the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies in Tehran-Iran. He is known for his expertise on social theory and Islamic and critical thinkers. He is also the Co-Director of the Institute for Critical Social Theory. He has published over 100 books in English, Persian and Swedish. His recent publications include Ali Shariati: Critical Theory and the Struggle for Decolonization and Socio-Analysis: A Theory on Emancipation and Pain (in Persian).
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Dustin J. Byrd and Seyed Javad Miri
Part 1
Reviving Freud
1 Exhuming the Freudian Corpus: On Freud as a Social and Cultural Theorist
Howard L. Kaye
Part 2
Freud and the Frankfurt School
2 Freud’s Psychology of Religion: The Frankfurt School, Determinate Negation, and Return to Religion
Dustin J. Byrd
3 Adorno, Freud, and the Dialectic of the Individual and the Social
Gregory Joseph Menillo
4 Marx and Freud, Horkheimer and Adorno: Beyond the Historical Gender Struggle
Rudolf J. Siebert
Part 3
Freud and Religion
5 Critical Social Theory and Religion: Revisiting Sigmund Freud’s Discourse on Religion
Seyed Javad Miri
6 Black Power’s Deification of the Son: A Freudian Reading of the Reverse Oedipal Relationship between Malcolm
x
and Elijah Muhammad
Jimmy Butts
Part 4
Freud and the Political
7 Freud’s Mass Psychology Today: Psychoanalysis, Politics, and Populism in the Age of Post-truth
Yannis Stavrakakis
8 Freud, Marx, and the Structure of Freedom
Michael J. Thompson
9 How to Conceive of the Unconscious and its Political Significance
Fabio Molinari
Part 5
Freud, Morality, and the Death Drive
10 Beyond the Death-Drive: Psychoanalysis and Social Critique
Delia Popa and Iaan Reynolds
11 “I Know Very Well, but Nevertheless”: Moral Immaturity of the 21st Century Humanitarian Witness
Mlado Ivanovic
12 Freud and the Problem of Moral Agency
Alfred I. Tauber
13 “No One Believes in His Own Death.” On More and Less Necessary Illusions
Ulrike Kistner
14 Killing in the Name of the Father: Freud and René Girard on the Question of Desire
Clint Jones
Part 6
Freud, Neo-freudians, and Beyond
15 Psychoanalysis and the American Intellectual
Eli Zaretsky
16 A Freudian Analysis of the Competing Groups on Uncorroborated Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse
Michael Naughton
Introduction
Dustin J. Byrd and Seyed Javad Miri
Part 1
Reviving Freud
1 Exhuming the Freudian Corpus: On Freud as a Social and Cultural Theorist
Howard L. Kaye
Part 2
Freud and the Frankfurt School
2 Freud’s Psychology of Religion: The Frankfurt School, Determinate Negation, and Return to Religion
Dustin J. Byrd
3 Adorno, Freud, and the Dialectic of the Individual and the Social
Gregory Joseph Menillo
4 Marx and Freud, Horkheimer and Adorno: Beyond the Historical Gender Struggle
Rudolf J. Siebert
Part 3
Freud and Religion
5 Critical Social Theory and Religion: Revisiting Sigmund Freud’s Discourse on Religion
Seyed Javad Miri
6 Black Power’s Deification of the Son: A Freudian Reading of the Reverse Oedipal Relationship between Malcolm
Jimmy Butts
Part 4
Freud and the Political
7 Freud’s Mass Psychology Today: Psychoanalysis, Politics, and Populism in the Age of Post-truth
Yannis Stavrakakis
8 Freud, Marx, and the Structure of Freedom
Michael J. Thompson
9 How to Conceive of the Unconscious and its Political Significance
Fabio Molinari
Part 5
Freud, Morality, and the Death Drive
10 Beyond the Death-Drive: Psychoanalysis and Social Critique
Delia Popa and Iaan Reynolds
11 “I Know Very Well, but Nevertheless”: Moral Immaturity of the 21st Century Humanitarian Witness
Mlado Ivanovic
12 Freud and the Problem of Moral Agency
Alfred I. Tauber
13 “No One Believes in His Own Death.” On More and Less Necessary Illusions
Ulrike Kistner
14 Killing in the Name of the Father: Freud and René Girard on the Question of Desire
Clint Jones
Part 6
Freud, Neo-freudians, and Beyond
15 Psychoanalysis and the American Intellectual
Eli Zaretsky
16 A Freudian Analysis of the Competing Groups on Uncorroborated Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse
Michael Naughton
All interested in psychoanalysis, political theory, social theory, political psychology. This book is geared towards upper-level undergraduates, graduates, and specialists.