About the Book
In this important new work, Eugene Victor Wolfenstein rejects the reduction of psychoanalysis to conformist psychology and Marxism to Stalinist orthodoxy. Instead, he illuminates the critical and emancipatory force of both traditions. He persuasively argues for a binocular'' view that integrates interests rooted in work and economic production with desires based in emotional life and human reproduction. Without obscuring the obvious differences between psychoanalytic and Marxist theories, his integrative approach provides the reader with a clearer, more complete understanding of modern society.
The book opens with a review of the work of Marx and Freud, the classical Freudian-Marxists (Reich, Fromm and Marcuse) and such recent thinkers as Habermas, Benjamin, Kovel, and Lichtman. Wolfenstein then develops the foundation for a psychoanalytic-marxist theory and practice. He reconceptualizes praxis and dialectics, and history and human nature, and presents a framework for social analysis. The book's final section utilizes these grounding notions for the analysis of class, gender, and race; psychoanalytic practice; and political practice (the modern state and its potential transformation).
Written in a bold and unusually lucid style, PSYCHOANALYTIC- MARXISM will serve as a benchmark for all further reflection on this topic. It offers fresh insights for those with an interest in psychoanalysis, Marxism, and a broad range of related concerns: philosophy, the modernism/postmodernism debates, feminist theory, African-American studies, critical social theory, political theory, history, and sociology.
Review :
"An extremely clear and interesting account of the evolving encounter between two major thought systems. It aims to guide readers from both disciplines, psychoanalysis and social theory, to the point of confluence at which these disciplines converge. Not just an admirable work of intellectual history, PSYCHOANALYTIC MARXISM is also the statement of a psychoanalyst and political theorist who wants to grapple with the major social issues of our time. Wolfenstein summons his clinical experience as well as his wide-ranging knowledge of political theory in order to address in depth the question of how the practice of psychoanalysis can inform our social understanding." --Jessica Benjamin, New York University "Psychoanalytic-Marxism not only revivifies the topic [for which it's named], but will define it for years to come. A pleasure to read, Wolfenstein's prose is finely tuned and sharply focused. Difficult issues are not made simple, but they are definitely made interesting." --C. Fred Alford, Professor of Government, University of Maryland
"A dazzling tour de force which will be required reading in the future for all those concerned with Marxism, psychoanalysis, or both." --Fred Dallmayr, Professor of Political Theory, University of Notre Dame
"A fascinating analysis of the potential in a Marxian/Psychoanalytic interpretation of social and political reality....PSYCHOANALYTIC MARXISM is an important book...its driving vitality lies in demonstrating how both Marxian and psychoanalytic theorizing is not monolithic; that both traditions are infused by change and transformation; and that psychoanalytic theorizing is a living body of knowledge having advanced considerably from its conceptual origins....It is this spirit of both theories, their energy as living, transforming presences in the concrete daily lives of human beings that makes Wolfenstein's interpretation so compelling." --James M. Glass, University of Maryland
"With [this book's] publication, Freudo-Marxism may finally be said to have come of age. To paraphrase Marx, its prehistory is over; its real history is primed to begin....One of the major intellectual syntheses of our time." --Joel Kovel, MD, Bard College
"It is certainly a perfect book for university classes, and a book the rest of us can profitably read....In this eloquent work Wolfenstein passes on to generations to come an appreciation of grand theory as well as an impassioned argument for universal emancipation." --Terry A. Kupers, The Wright Insititute, Berkeley, CA
"I heartily recommend this book to all prospective students of psychoanalytic Marxism, and am reminded here of a quip that a still vigorous Mark Twain once made to some avid reporters, to the effect that the recent rumors of his death had been greatly exaggerated. If this book is any indication, then the dialectical imagination, though advancing in age, is far from extinguished and promises to illumine our social and cultural existence for decades to come." -- Psychoanalytic Books: A Quarterly Journal of Reviews
"This is a valuable book, well worth the reader's attention." -- Readings
"The author shows a considerable knowledge of the texts of Hegel, Marx, and Freud, and many of his intuitions are sound, original, and well worth pursuing." -- American Political Science Review
"I heartily recommend this book to all prospective students of psychoanalytic Marxism, and am reminded here of a quip that a still vigorous Mark Twain once made to some avid reporters, to the effect that the recent rumors of his death had been greatly exaggerated. If this book is any indication, then the dialectical imagination, though advancing in age, is far from extinguished and promises to illumine our social and cultural existence for decades to come." --"Psychoanalytic Books: A Quarterly Journal of Reviews"
"This is a valuable book, well worth the reader's attention." --"Readings"
"The author shows a considerable knowledge of the texts of Hegel, Marx, and Freud, and many of his intuitions are sound, original, and well worth pursuing." --"American Political Science Review "
