News

 
This year’s Psychoanalysis and Politics conference will take place in Brussels, in the EPF House (European Psychoanalytic Federation), May 11th-12th 2024. The title is: Decadence, Decay, Destruction – Psychic and Other Economies. The conference is now open for registration.
The call for papers is here.
Speakers include: 
FADI ABOU-RIHAN – War Terminable and Interminable
(Fadi Abou-Rihan is a Psychotherapist and Psychoanalyst based in Toronto, and a Dr. of Philosophy.)
ANTONIO CALCAGNO – Psychic Decay and Destruction: Renegotiating Tensions Psychoanalytic and Phenomenological (Antonio Calcagno is a Professor of Philosophy at King’s University College, Western University, Toronto.)
JAY FRANKEL – What the study of nonhuman animals reveals about authoritarianism and its alternative (Jay Frankel, Ph.D., is a psychologist and psychoanalyst, Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor, and Clinical Consultant, in the Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, New York University, and an Associate member of the Norwegian Psychoanalytical Society.)
STEVEN JARON – The Foreigner, the Bad, and the Hated: On André Green’s Investigation into Freud’s Destruction and Death Drives (Steven Jaron is a Psychologist and Psychoanalyst based in Paris, and a Translator of André Green.)

CRISES AND TRANSMISSION
A Psychoanalysis and Politics series of digital seminars, since 2020

The series is here

REVOLUTIONS AND REVOLTS – SPRING SYMPOSIUM IN THE NORWEGIAN PSYCHOANALYTICAL SOCIETY, OSLO, MAY 27th-28th 2023
The programme is here

FASCIST IMAGINARIES

 SYMPOSIUM IN THE BERLIN PSYCHOANALYTICAL INSTITUTE,
KARL-ABRAHAM-INSTITUT (BPI), BERLIN, JUNE 3rd-5th 2022

The programme is here

OPPRESSION AND WELCOMING STRANGERS
A conference to celebrate 10 years of Psychoanalysis and Politics
September 19th 2020, 10.00-18.00, CAK, African Cultural Institute,
Pilestredet 75c, 0354 Oslo

This conference marks the 10th anniversary of the international and interdisciplinary conference series Psychoanalysis and Politics. A central aspect of this ongoing community of thought is reflecting on the nature of inclusion, and specifically the unconscious and preconscious aspects of inclusion and its opposites in social settings. Thinking of how power and oppression is expressed and experienced in contemporary social and political spaces is key to understanding the workings of welcoming, or excluding, people who are conceived of as strangers. A programme and further information will be forthcoming here Oppression and Welcoming Strangers

OPPRESSION AND WELCOMING STRANGERS
Part 2
September 18th 2021, 9.00-18.00, Litteraturhuset, Amalie Skram,
Wergelandsveien 29, 0167 Oslo

 

CANCELLED: WHICH IDENTITY?
TRIBALISM AND HUMANISM

SPRING SYMPOSIUM IN THE INSTITUTE OF GROUP ANALYSIS,
MAY 29TH-31ST 2020 1 Daleham Gardens, London, NW3 5BY, UK

This conference has been cancelled, with deep regret. You can read more about this here: https://www.psa-pol.org/which-identity-tribalism-and-humanism/

 

THE NARCISSISTIC DYNAMICS OF SUBMISSION:
THE ATTRACTION OF THE POWERLESS TO AUTHORITARIAN LEADERS
Lecture by Jay Frankel followed by a group discussion
Litteraturhuset, Oslo, August 14th 2019, 19.00-21.00

More information

COLONIAL FANTASIES, VIOLENT TRANSMISSION –
PROGRAMME

This year’s Psychoanalysis and Politics conference will take place in Stockholm, in the rooms of the Swedish Psychoanalytical Association, May 10th-12th.

Title: Colonial fantasies, violent transmission. The programme is here.

Registration for this conference has now closed. If you are one out of a few people whose registration is pending, please get in touch to confirm
before attempting to register.

 

HOMOPHOBIA AND THE CONTEMPORARY FAR RIGHT
Lectures by Lene Auestad and Magnus Eriksson followed by a group discussion
Litteraturhuset, Oslo, April 13th 2019 kl. 12.00-15.00
More information

Norsk utgave: HOMOFOBI OG YTRE HØYRE I DAG
Foredrag ved Lene Auestad og Magnus Eriksson etterfulgt av gruppediskusjon
Litteraturhuset, Oslo, 13. april 2019 kl 12.00-15.00
Mer informasjon

CRUELTY IN THE EARLY ENVIRONMENT AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH RACISM
Lecture by Jonathan Sklar followed by a group discussion
Litteraturhuset, Oslo, March 23rd 2019 13.00-15.00
More information
Registration for this event has now closed.
(You will only be able to attend if you are on the list of participants.)

Norsk utgave: RASISME OG BRUTALITET I OPPVEKSTMILJØET
Hvordan skapes rasister og voldsmenn?
Foredrag av Jonathan Sklar med gruppediskusjon
Litteraturhuset, Oslo, 23. mars 2019 kl 13.00-15.00
Mer informasjon
Dette arrangementet er nå fulltegnet.
(Du vil bare kunne delta hvis du er oppført på deltagerlisten.)

 

PSYCHODYNAMICS IN TIMES OF AUSTERITY

Spring symposium in the Portuguese Psychoanalytical Society,
May 18th-20th 2018

The programme is here

Black-Death-Danse-Macabre

LANGUAGE, DEHUMANISATION, REHUMANISATION

A Psychoanalysis and Politics special event

Litteraturhuset, Oslo, April 25th 2018, 19.00-21.00

more information

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY WORKING THROUGH THE PAST?

A Psychoanalysis and Politics special event

Litteraturhuset, Oslo, December 13th 2017, 19.00-21.00

more about this event

SHARED TRAUMAS, SILENT LOSS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE MOURNING

BOOK SEMINAR IN THE MARX HOUSE,

 37 A Clerkenwell Green, London EC1R 0DU, MARCH 2nd 2017

more about this event

 

Next year

 Link to the call for papers

 

DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM IN DARKENING TIMES

SUMMER SYMPOSIUM  IN THE BRITISH PSYCHOANALYTICAL SOCIETY,

 112 A Shirland Road, London W9 2EQ, JULY 16th 2016

This symposium questions the meaning of democracy and freedom in our time and investigates its relation to psychoanalysis. The word ‘democracy’ stems from demos, the people, and kratia, power or rule. How might we understand these two parts of the concept in their relation to freedom, oppression, elitism and populism? It becomes relevant to ask “who belongs to ‘the people’?” as national and other boundaries are questioned. Hannah Arendt used the phrase ‘dark times’ of a situation where public speech fails to illuminate and make truth emerge. How might we imagine freedom – of speech, of thought, of movement, of creation, in a way which addresses the present situation? This symposium presents three papers which engage with these questions in different ways, with room for discussion. It ends with a group reflection, allowing for shared thinking about these issues.

10.30-11.00 Opening words

11.00-11.50 JONATHAN SKLAR, (Training analyst, British Psychoanalytical Society) – Hate and Prejudice in Darkening Times

12.00-12.50 LENE AUESTAD, (PhD, prev., dep. of Philosophy, University of Oslo) – On Having a Voice: Survival and Dignity

12.50-14.00 Lunch

14.00-14.50 MILENA STATEVA, (Senior Researcher/Consultant, Tavistock Institute) – Our prayer is our labour: On incubation of and innovation in reflective spaces

15.00-16.00 Group reflection

The conference fee, which includes lunch, is £ 85 before June 15th 2016 and £ 95 after this date. A limited number of discounted tickets, £ 35 are available. TIckets sales end at midnight July 11th. Please note that the conference fee is non-refundable.

Democracy-poster2

PSYCHOANALYSIS, CULTURE & SOCIETY SPECIAL SECTION ON PSYCHOANALYSIS AND POLITICS

The new issue of the journal Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society (no. 4 2015) contains a special section on the conference series Psychoanalysis and Politics with an introduction by Lene Auestad and with these three articles:

  • Lene Auestad: Basic trust and alienation, or “we have nothing to reproach ourselves with”
  • Amal Treacher Kabesh: Political upheaval in Egypt: Disavowing troubling states of mind
  • Jay Frankel: The traumatic basis for the resurgence of right-wing politics among working Americans
The short introduction to the special section provides an account of the aims and format of the conference series. These four articles are available for free. Link to the issue

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND POLITICS SYMPOSIUM 2016

SOLIDARITY AND ALIENATION: SOCIAL STRUCTURES OF HOPE AND DESPAIR

The next Psychoanalysis and Politics symposium will take place in Vienna May 6th-8th 2016. The title is Solidarity and Alienation: Social Structures of Hope and Despair. A call for papers and more information is forthcoming Sept./Oct. 2015. The deadline for abstracts will be in November/early December. See also the guide for abstracts.

solidarity-3

MEMORY AND COUNTER-MEMORY:

70 YEARS SINCE THE LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ 

INSTITUTE OF PSYCHOANALYSIS, LONDON, SATURDAY OCTOBER 3rd 2015

A one-day Psychoanalysis and Politics symposium to commemorate 70 years of the liberation of Auschwitz and pose the question of what the Shoah means for us today.

PROGRAMME

9.30 DOORS OPEN

10.00-10.10 OPENING WORDS

10.10-11.00 EDIE FRIEDMAN – Why We Sometimes Fail to Live up to Our Tradition and Experience

11.10-12.00 IRENE BRUNA SEU – Bystanders to Human Rights Violations and Genocide: A Psychosocial Perspective

12.10-13.00 ZÖE WAXMAN – An Exceptional Genocide? Sexual Violence in the Holocaust

13.00-14.00 LUNCH

14.00-14.50 DAVID POLAK – Sleeping with the Door Open: The Unconscious Transmission of Intergenerational Trauma

15.00-15.50 SUE LIEBERMAN – How Do We Talk About It? The Legacy of Rupture

16.00-16.50 CALUM NEILL – Not to Naught: Paul Celan and the Necessary Failure of the Ever Coming Word

17.00-17.50 GABY GLASSMAN – Collective and Individual Memory of Trauma: Responses through the Generations

17.50-18.00 CLOSING WORDS

Tickets are available from Eventbrite; General admission £ 45. A small number of discounted tickets are available at £ 35 – please only use this option if you really need it. We thank you in advance for additional donations. Lunch is included. Please note that the fee is non-refundable.

LINKING SPACE –
A PSYCHOANALYSIS AND POLITICS SPECIAL EVENT

Saturday September 27th 2014

Marx House, 37a Clerkenwell Green, EC1R 0DU, London

 Programme

10.00 – 10.30 Opening address and introduction round, LENE AUESTAD and JONATHAN DAVIDOFF

10.30 – 11.15 Emotions, Agency and Judgement by AMAL TREACHER KABESH

11.30 – 12.15 Commentary on Amal Treacher Kabesh’s presentation by LUCIA CORTI and JULIA BOROSSA

12.30 – 13.30 Open discussion

13.30 – 14.45 Lunch break

14.45 – 15.30 Understanding Online Interaction – Psychosocial Approaches to Digital Culture by STEFFEN KRÜGER

15.45 – 16.30 Commentary on Steffen Krüger’s presentation, commentator PETER REDMAN

16.45 – 17.45 Open discussion

17.45 – 18.15 Closing address and discussion, LENE AUESTAD and JONATHAN DAVIDOFF

Dinner and drinks in local venue

The objective of this event is to promote deeper engagement with ideas than that of conferences of traditional formats. Speakers will present their papers followed by commentators who will address, question and reflect upon the presentation. All participants will receive the papers three weeks in advance so as to enable everyone’s active participation and engagement.

To sign up, please complete the registration form and follow the instructions to pay a fee of £ 60 with dinner or £ 40 without dinner. Lunch and refreshments will be provided at the event. Final deadline for registration: September 17th (the number of participants is limited to 40, thus we may close the registration earlier if it fills up before this date). For registration and other enquires please email: linkingspace.pp[at]gmail.com

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND POLITICS SYMPOSIUM 2015

The next Psychoanalysis and Politics symposium will take place in Barcelona 20th-22nd of March 2015. Preliminary title: Migration, Exiles and Polyphonic Spaces.

A call for papers and more information is forthcoming Sept./Oct. 2014. We would like to thank the Spanish Psychoanalytical Society.

2015 PsA-Pol

 

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND POLITICS SEMINAR WITH BOOK LAUNCH

There will be a seminar with a launch for the book Lene Auestad ed.  Nationalism and the Body Politic: Psychoanalysis and the Rise of Ethnocentrism and Xenophobia, NILGA series, Karnac 2014, and the book Psychoanalysis and Politics: Exclusion and the Politics of Representation, Karnac 2012, at The Freud Museum, London,
20 Maresfield Gardens, London NW3 5SX, image-thumb
Wednesday January 15th 6.45-9.00 pm.

Please arrive at 6.45 pm.
7.00-8.00 A seminar with short talks by Lene Auestad, Earl Hopper, Julia Borossa, Margarita Palacios, Jonathan Davidoff. Chair: Peter Redman.
8.00-9.00 Champagne and nibbles to celebrate the publications.
You will be able to buy the books at a discounted rate.  The event is free; RSVP to psapolbooklaunch[at]gmail.com  by January 10th 2014. All welcome!

 

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND POLITICS SYMPOSIUM 2014

The next Psychoanalysis and Politics symposium will be held in Budapest 9th, 10th and 11th of May 2014. See call for papers.