Thomas Svolos

The usual perspective on the relationship of the individual with society or on the relationship of the personal the political fails to take into account the existence of the unconscious. The unconscious—which is both something “within” the individual, but also something “rejected” by the individual and thus not part of conscious thought—has a curious property of at once being internal and external. This topology is enhanced by the additional fact that the substance of the unconscious is also, in fact, taken in from the outside world. In learning a language, one thus takes in not only the vocabulary and the various rules of grammar and syntax, however, but also some unwritten rules of language that have social and political dimensions to them that get woven into the unconscious.

From its beginning with the work of Sigmund Freud, the practice and theories of psychoanalysis have attracted interest from a diverse set of scholars who wish to use psychoanalysis in their work. Fredric Jameson and Slavoj Zizek—in distinctive ways—use psychoanalysis as part of a broader dialectical approach to their interpretive strategies for cultural and social criticism. From a Lacanian perspective, this use can be articulated as an instance of the Discourse of the University, in which knowledge acts on the object of the study. Thomas Svolos presents an alternative approach to cultural and social criticism, where the libido or jouissance at stake drives the production of critical discourse—the Discourse of the Analyst. The distinction, however, is a function of the relative position of elements within the discourse and not a value judgement on the preference of one or the other. The Discourse of the University and the Discourse of the Analyst also place emphasis on different aspects of knowledge—imaginary knowledge versus knowledge in the real.

In Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud introduced fundamental psychoanalytic hypotheses about the relationship between social structure and the psyche, including the psychopathology of the neuroses. Freud hypothesized that the repression of sexual and aggressive drives demanded by civilization led to the development of neurosis. While Freud’s theory of a relationship of social formations and psychic formations remains invaluable, postmodern society is different in distinctive ways from Freud’s Victorian society. Changes in social structure, particularly the dominance of the symbolic order that characterized Freud’s era, can be articulated with new psychic structures today and new forms of suffering.

Freud characterized the role of society as providing security for its citizens, along with his fundamental articulation of the repressive hypothesis—that society demands the repression of certain sexual and aggressive drives—which he linked with the development of the neurotic form of human suffering. The global response to the pandemic, from the vantage point of summer 2020, was quite varied. Psychoanalytic formulations provided a different lens through which to read in 2020 the heterogeneity of pandemic responses on the part of government and society in general. The Freudian model of the society as the protector of its citizens was evident, most clearly in New Zealand and, in Europe, with Angela Merkel, two female leaders. A different model of structuring societal response was formulated, especially among some in the United States, based on hatred, the negative identification of the virus as an external threat. The loss of a place of a single, universal master that had some dominant role in society—most clearly in the position of Emperor—was replaced with a swarm of figures wanting to take the role of master, as was also seen in the United States. The absence of a symbolic father was also evident in the nostalgia in some countries for a strong man to take the helm. Others turned to the Discourse of the University—to a committee of experts—to take the helm. Another response was aligned with the Discourse of the Capitalist and the need to keep money and labor and production circulating. And, finally, without symbolic moorings, the United States also experienced a certain disorganization manifested in the pursuit of diverse libidinal aims.

Identity is complex—incorporating dimensions of the imaginary (body image, appearance), the symbolic (role, place in society, values, belief structure), and the real (generally opaque to the person, the libidinal dimension). The relationship of and construction of identity is based, in part, on the ways in which these different dimensions are articulated for any person. Furthermore, that process itself is dependent on historically changing social structures whose impact on the development of identity and subjectivity are both manifest and, at times, difficult to read. This is true for both individual identity and the collective identity that is the functioning of groups. In postmodernity, the symbolic order’s dominance over other orders has been replaced with novel forms of identity and groups, not necessarily mediated through the symbolic.

The United States of America has a long history of claiming to welcome immigrants. In fact, the very term for this—“melting pot”—was derived from a description of European immigrants melting together in taking on the new identification of American as far back as 1782. That said, the story of immigration in the United States has a rather more conflictual dimension to it, as successive waves of immigrants were not always received warmly into the country. A story of Hellenophobia—of hatred to the early twentieth century Greek immigrants—built upon a disgust with the lifestyle of the Greek immigrants and wish on the part of some that Greeks not intermingle with the established Americans was the basis of riots against Greek-Americans in Omaha, in 1909, a series of riots, precipitating events, and background of labor unrest that prefigured race riots during the Red Summer that also affected Omaha in 1919.

The phenomenon of climate change and human responses to it are indeed massive and discussion of these subjects might incorporate ecology, energy science, public health, geography, political science, geology, finance, government, medicine, and many fields. The unique contribution of psychoanalytic discourse to these debates is to isolate the subjective factors in the way people frame the subject. The “stance” to climate change or the sense of urgency to issues of the individual or social response to it are all reflective of a particular way in which the person will frame the issue—both the easy to frame aspects and also more importantly those less apparent to the person, those more opaque to human representation. In the first paper in this chapter, a comparison is made between the interpretive process of psychoanalysis—taking something that causes anxiety and putting it into words—and the reading effect of a recent near-future novel of climate change, Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry for the Future. The second paper in the chapter puts attention on a certain idealism that features strongly in how some represent nature.

In his autobiography Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen writes with a notable sensitivity and awareness of his internal state of mind, his family of origin, and those that he works with or dealt with as he entered into the music business. He is able to interpret his own interests in music and the impact of his family on the ambition that he had for success as a musician and a human being. The acuity of his interpretations may well be linked to the twenty-five years that the musician spent speaking with his psychoanalyst, who he credits as essential in his autobiography.

Psychoanalysis itself—the practice of psychoanalysis and the institutions of psychoanalysis—should also be interpreted, which is the basis for the three papers included in this chapter. When the COVID pandemic developed, the growing practice of psychoanalysis through technology—by video or phone—became much more common and put the status of the body in the virtual psychoanalytic experience in question. In as much as Jacques Lacan defines psychoanalysis as the “encounter of the bodies,” a proposition of the encounter with the imaginary body and the real body itself is advanced, drawing on the experience of the analyst and analysand. A second paper in this chapter presents a historical sketch of the analytic act based on its own articulation with historical changes in civilization itself. In the final paper in the chapter, a theoretical approach to psychoanalytic institutions—to the School itself, in the Lacanian orientation—defines a distinction between the imaginary functioning of psychoanalytic institutions, itself based on Jacques Lacan’s use of the notion of “empire,” and the place of desire in the function of the institution.

After George Floyd was murdered in the United States in 2020, some Americans embraced the decentralized social movement, Black Lives Matter, that was established first in 2013 to address racism in the United States. At a moment when some in the United States have emphasized a disengagement of young people in social and political matters, the protests and other activities in the name of Black Lives Matter demonstrate a high level of engagement of a diverse group of citizens in social matters. Furthermore, at a moment of general acceptance of a decline of importance in what Lacan called the symbolic order—in a sense of named law or principle, one might say—Black Lives Matter protests highlighted a commitment to a set of words, a set of principles, that formed a mandate for those involved.

In the United States, the 2016 presidential elections were a surprise to many observers and political pundits. Voting and political affiliation had previously been constructed on a model of positive identification, on the alignment of voters with politicians with whom they felt a positive identification. The 2016 election highlighted, rather, the importance of negative identification of the voters. Voters with perhaps little personal identification with candidates chose candidates on the basis of shared objects of hatred, of negative identification. This hatred is linked to a certain disgust with some aspect of the Other that the voter wishes to avoid. This was true in the election of nominees and elected officials from both major parties. A second text in the chapter explores one path for politics that subverts the force of identification.

In this book, Thomas Svolos tests the claim that a practicing psychoanalyst is afforded a unique perspective on issues of politics, social and cultural affairs, trained, as they are, to look out for that which is not readily transparent to a patient. This might be something opaque, something bizarre even, something that is part of the experience of the patient that they are not conscious of, what Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan called, at different points in their work, desire, libido, or, jouissance. It argues that by taking account, in one way or another, of desire, libido and jouissance, we might find another dimension to political, social and cultural matters, a dimension that is present, but generally opaque, to those who deal with them. In a series of original texts and edited dialogues, brought together for the first time, this lively and accessible work offers novel insights on topics ranging from race, climate change and partisan politics, to science fiction and Bruce Springsteen. It will appeal to students, scholars and those with a general interest in psychoanalysis, politics, cultural studies and critical theory.