Review of Political freud: A history.

Reviews the book, Political Freud: A History by Eli Zaretsky (see record 2015-55332-000). This book is a fascinating creative treatise on Sigmund Freud’s complex and profound political influence on human culture, economics, radical leftist movements, and lifestyle in America and the world. The book reads like a sweeping historical drama beginning at the turn of the twentieth century and moves us through major Kuhnian shifts in psycho-cultural paradigms as it illuminates Freud’s seminal impact in an articulate, intelligent style. While reflecting a broad knowledge of psychoanalysis, history, anthropology, sociology, and economics, Political Freud appears to be the culmination of Zaretsky’s previous thinking in such works as Secrets of the Soul (2004), and “Why the Freudian Century: Reflections on the Statue of Athena” (2011). This book is always provocative and stimulating, although the reviewer disagreed with some premises and conclusions. For anyone interested in the way psychoanalysis has influenced the great political movements of the twentieth century, Political Freud is a brilliant, intellectually provocative read, and the reviewer recommends it unequivocally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

Source: Psychoanalytic Psychology - July 26, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research