The Psychopathology of American Capitalism

Thomas Paul Bonfiglio (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

VIII, 296 Seiten

2017 | 1st ed. 2017
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-319-55591-1 (ISBN)

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This book synthesizes psychoanalytic and Marxist techniques in order to illuminate the resistance to a socialization of the American economy, the protectionist discourses of anomalous American capitalism, and the suppression of the capitalist welfare state. After the Second World War, Democrats and Republicans effectively eliminated the communist and socialist parties from the American political spectrum and suppressed their allied labor movements. The right-wing shift of both parties fabricated a false opposition of left and right that does not correspond to political oppositions in the industrialized democracies. Marxist perspectives can account for the massive inequality of the political economy, but they are insufficient for illuminating its preservation. Psychoanalysis is necessary in order to explain why Americans continue to vote within a two-party system that neglects the lower classes, and why the working class tendsto vote against its own interests. The psychoanalytic techniques employed include doubling, repetition, displacement, condensation, inversion, denial, fetishizing, and cognitive repression. In examining the fixation upon the proxy binary of Democrat vs. Republican, which suppresses the true opposition of left vs. right and neutralizes alternatives, the work analyses numerous contemporary political issues through applications of Marxist psychoanalytic theory.

Thomas Paul Bonfiglio is Gaines Professor of Literature and Linguistics at the University of Richmond, USA. His publications include Why Is English Literature? Language and Letters for the Twenty-First Century (2013); Mother Tongues and Nations: The Invention of the Native Speaker (2010); and Race and the Rise of Standard American (2002).

1. Introduction.- 2. Marx, Freud, and Capital.- 3. Immanent Injustice: Race and Gender.- 4. Misrepresentations: Deleuze and Guattari.- 5. Zizek's Hysterical Commodities.- 6. Marketed Fetishism.- 7. Language, Thought, and Economy.- 8. Coldwar Cognition.- 9. Anticommunism and Academia.- 10. Anglocentrism.- 11. From Economy to Identity: How Many Ends Does It Take to Make a Middle?.- 12. Conclusion.

Erscheinungsdatum	05.07.2017
Reihe/Serie	Critical Political Theory and Radical Practice
Zusatzinfo	VIII, 296 p.
Verlagsort	Cham
Sprache	englisch
Maße	148 x 210 mm
Gewicht	524 g
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Theorie
Schlagworte	Abnormal Psychology • Analytical & Jungian psychology • Analytical & Jungian psychology • Anticommunism • Bernie Sanders • Capitalism • communist • Critical theory • Deleuze • Democrats • Fetishism • Freud • Guattari • hegemony • History of philosophy, philosophical traditions • Identity politics • Marx • McCarthy • Monolingualism • Multiculturalism • Political Economy • Political Science & Theory • Political Science and International Studies • Political Science & Theory • political theory • politics & government • Politics & government • Psychoanalysis • Psychoanalytical & Freudian psychology • Psychoanalytical & Freudian psychology • psychopathology • Republicans • two-party system • United States of America, USA • US politics • Welfare State • Zizek
ISBN-10	3-319-55591-X / 331955591X
ISBN-13	978-3-319-55591-1 / 9783319555911
Zustand	Neuware