Premium
Trauma, ideology, and the future of democracy
Author(s) -
Hollander Nancy Caro
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
international journal of applied psychoanalytic studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.314
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1556-9187
pISSN - 1742-3341
DOI - 10.1002/aps.97
Subject(s) - ideology , psychoanalytic theory , democracy , sociology , unconscious mind , politics , convergence (economics) , government (linguistics) , critical theory , population , political economy , psychoanalysis , criminology , social psychology , epistemology , political science , psychology , law , economics , philosophy , economic growth , linguistics , demography
This article uses aspects of psychoanalytic theory to explain how the convergence of unconscious mechanisms and ideology in the post‐9/11 political culture enabled the US government to secure consensual support for domestic and foreign policies that attack democracy and make the world more dangerous rather than safer. The author argues that the Kleinian and Lacanian traditions, along with critical social theory, shed light on the psychopolitical dynamics of a bystander population and help to explain the psychic and social factors that permit the emergence of critical social conscience. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.