In this Book
- Colonization Of Psychic Space: A Psychoanalytic Social Theory Of Oppression
- Book
- 2004
- Published by: University of Minnesota Press
summary
We are, Julia Kristeva writes, strangers to ourselves; and indeed much of contemporary theory, whether psychoanalytic, historical, social, or critical, describes the human condition as one of alienation. Eloquently arguing that we cannot explain the development of individuality or subjectivity apart from its social context, Kelly Oliver makes a powerful case for recognizing the social aspects of alienation and the psychic aspects of oppression.
Oliver’s work shows how existentialist and psychoanalytic notions of alienation cover up specific forms of racist and sexist alienation that serve as the underside of the human condition. She reveals that such notions are actually symptomatic of the subject’s anxiety and guilt over the oppression on which his privileged position rests. Not only does such alienation not embody subjectivity and humanity, it in fact undermines them.
Asserting that sublimation and forgiveness—and not alienation—constitute subjectivity, Oliver explores the complex ways in which the alienation unique to oppression leads to depression, shame, anger, or violence; and how these affects, now often misread and misdiagnosed, can be transformed into agency, individuality, solidarity, and community.
Oliver’s work shows how existentialist and psychoanalytic notions of alienation cover up specific forms of racist and sexist alienation that serve as the underside of the human condition. She reveals that such notions are actually symptomatic of the subject’s anxiety and guilt over the oppression on which his privileged position rests. Not only does such alienation not embody subjectivity and humanity, it in fact undermines them.
Asserting that sublimation and forgiveness—and not alienation—constitute subjectivity, Oliver explores the complex ways in which the alienation unique to oppression leads to depression, shame, anger, or violence; and how these affects, now often misread and misdiagnosed, can be transformed into agency, individuality, solidarity, and community.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xii
- Part I. Alienation and Its Double
- Part II. The Secretion of Race and Fluidity of Resistance
- 5. Fluidity of Power
- pp. 71-82
- 6. The Affects of Oppression
- pp. 87-100
- 7. The Depressed Sex
- pp. 101-124
- 8. Sublimation and Idealization
- pp. 125-152
- Part IV. Revolt, Singularity, and Forgiveness
- 9. Revolt and Singularity
- pp. 155-178
- 10. Forgiveness and Subjectivity
- pp. 179-194
- Works Cited
- pp. 223-232
- About the Author
- p. 247
Additional Information
ISBN
9780816696710
Related ISBN(s)
9780816644742
MARC Record
OCLC
228145232
Pages
272
Launched on MUSE
2015-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No