Alienation, Conscious and Unconscious: Reflections on Psychoanalysis and Sociopolitical Issues

Author(s) : R.D. Hinshelwood, Author(s) : Giuseppe Caruso

Alienation, Conscious and Unconscious: Reflections on Psychoanalysis and Sociopolitical Issues

Book Details

  • Publisher : Karnac Books
  • Published : November 2025
  • Cover : Paperback
  • Pages : 376
  • Category :
    Forthcoming
  • Category 2 :
    Psychoanalysis
  • Catalogue No : 98274
  • ISBN 13 : 9781800133136
  • ISBN 10 : 1800133138
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Too little is ever thought about the unconscious dimension of the mind when considering political and ideological issues and crises. To redress this lacuna, R. D. Hinshelwood presents eleven of his most inspiring papers on the relevance of psychoanalytic thinking to politics alongside a series of in-depth discussions with Giuseppe Caruso.

R. D. Hinshelwood draws from five decades of experience to present a collection of papers on the relationships between psychoanalysis and politics. Divided into four parts, each chapter begins with a short introduction from the author to contextualise the featured paper and each part ends on an in-depth discussion with Giuseppe Caruso to clarify and advance understanding of the issues raised. They discuss the relevance of psychoanalysis, the science of the unconscious, and the numerous political topics addressed. Politics involves conscious debate but it is inevitably intruded upon by unconscious determinants that key in with social attitudes and issues. Hinshelwood draws upon the theory and work of Melanie Klein, W. R. Bion, and Herbert Rosenfeld, as well as his work with and on organisations and therapeutic communities. His writing is imbued with an acute sensibility to social and political matters and engages not only those with an interest in psychoanalysis but also those interested in the social sciences and cultural studies.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgements
About the authors
Abstracts of the papers
Introduction: A preliminary discussion

Part I: Setting out the psychosocial divide

Chapter 1. Marxist and psychoanalytic alienations
- Paper 1. Projective identification and Marx’s concept of man (1983)

Chapter 2. Seeking the synthesis
- Paper 2. Convergences with psychoanalysis (1996)

Discussion of Part I

Part II: Individual psychology with its interpersonal dimensions

Chapter 3. Affect flow
- Paper 3. The individual and the influence of social settings (2005)

Chapter 4. Fluid identities
- Paper 4. Social possession of identity (1988)

Chapter 5. Stability or annihilation
- Paper 5. Psychological defences and nuclear war (2002)

Discussion of Part II

Part III: The sociopolitical penetrated by the mental

Chapter 6. Tracking down ideology
- Paper 6. Ideology and identity (2009)

Chapter 7. Socially stabilising identity
- Paper 7. Intolerance and the intolerable: The case of racism (2007)

Chapter 8. Belonging and identifying
- Paper 8. The function of symbol-formation: Pinning down the ego function (2020)

Discussion of Part III

Part IV: How do we “take action”?

Chapter 9. Is reflection an action?
- Paper 9. Reflection or action: And never the twain shall meet (2017)

Chapter 10. Democracy weaponised
- Paper 10. The disappointment of democracy (2021)

Chapter 11. The inexistence of debate
- Paper 11. Political action, psychoanalytic action (2023)

Discussion of Part IV

Conclusion
Index

About the Author(s)

R.D. Hinshelwood is a Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society and a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He had a long interest in alternative psychiatry and worked as a part-time Consultant Psychotherapist in the National Health Service whilst also running a private practice as a psychoanalyst for more than forty years. Subsequently he became professor in the Centre For Psychoanalytic Studies at Essex University (now the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies), and is now Professor Emeritus. He has written widely on psychoanalysis and psychoanalysts, as well as comparative psychoanalytic research, the psychodynamics of institutions, and a number of political topics (that make up the contents of this current volume).

More titles by R.D. Hinshelwood

Giuseppe Caruso is a psychoanalyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society. He works in private practice in London. As a social theorist he has published widely on global justice movements and cosmopolitanism and, more recently, integrating psychoanalytic insights to explore emotional cycles and leadership in groups. His earlier research involved ethnographic fieldwork with the Shipibo-Konibo people in Peru, leading to a monograph about their traditional medical practices.

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