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From Countertransference to Social Theory: A Study of Holocaust Thinking in U.S. Business Dress
Author(s) -
Stein Howard F.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
ethos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.783
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1548-1352
pISSN - 0091-2131
DOI - 10.1525/eth.2000.28.3.346
Subject(s) - countertransference , the holocaust , interpretation (philosophy) , psychic , ethnography , psychoanalytic theory , sociology , situated , psychology , disconnection , nexus (standard) , psychoanalysis , social psychology , aesthetics , law , political science , art , anthropology , philosophy , medicine , linguistics , alternative medicine , pathology , artificial intelligence , computer science , embedded system
Observer countertransference is discussed as the nexus of ethnographic knowing. Psychoanalytic approaches are situated in relation to embodiment theory and knowing via the senses. Alongside the official view of managed social change as "nothing personal, just business," U.S. workers draw upon Holocaust imagery to make sense of what is happening to them. Several ethnographic vignettes from the U.S. workplaces constitute the evidential core of the paper. Observer countertransference is seen as a vital instrumentfor comprehending the psychic reality behind the invocation of Holocaust images that are camouflaged by business euphemisms. More broadly, observer countertransference, judiciously used, (1) serves as a bridge between cultural levels (say, individual, workplace, nation) and (2) contributes to the wider interpretation of culture.