Psychoanalysis, Culture and Social Action Act Signatures of the Unconscious

Dieter Flader explores how current social and cultural concerns are connected to the unconscious, and how this affects our responses to them. Flader focuses on the role of the ego, assessing how our feelings about these issues in adulthood grow from childhood fears and desires, and integrating the existing psychoanalytic theories of Winnicott, Lacan, Kohut, and others with sociological and political theory. The interdisciplinary approach not only analyses current social issues but also generates new perspectives and solutions, and examines examples including climate change, bullying, and vegetarianism.

Introduction Part I: Basic Assumptions and Some Concepts of the Psychoanalytic Theory of Action 1. The act signature of the unconscious – a new approach of psychoanalytic cultural critique Part II: Mobbing and Its Connection to the Unconscious 1. What Is Mobbing? The Social Interaction Process of an Unresolved Mental Problem Part III. Depth Psychological Aspects of the Public Debate about Climate Change 1. A Psychoanalytical Approach to Climate Change Awareness Part IV. Other Contemporary Cultural Phenomena and their Connection to the Unconscious 1. Contemporary Problems of Leadership in Social Organisations 2. A Modern Model of Successful Management and its Psychoanalytical Interpretation 3. Television Programmes as a Mirror of Narcissistic Problem Situations 4. An Action-Oriented Analysis of Films by A. Hitchcock and S. King 5. Vegetarians and Vegans: The Link Between Psychology and Political Effectiveness 6. A Brief Summary Part V. Psychonalaysis in the Perception of Modern Science 1. Psychoanalysis from the Perspective of the Social Sciences 2. The Psychology of Narcissitic Epidemics (J. Twenge & W. Campbell) Conclusion

Professor Dieter Flader is co-director of the Berlin Institute for Applied Human Studies and adjunct professor at the Free University of Berlin, Germany.