In Liberating Oedipus?: Psychoanalysis as Critical Theory, Dr. Filip Kovacevic demonstrates how psychoanalytic theory can join political theory in designing alternative political norms and values. Detailing the thoughts of major psychologists including Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, and Alain Badiou, this book offers a new approach to traditional Lacanian theory. Kovacevic's emphasis on Lacanian psychoanalysis is especially relevant due to the modern challenges of failed globalization and the subsequent terrorist reactions. Kovacevic proves that political practice without an emancipatory psychology to guide it is potentially dangerous. Liberating Oedipus? is a critical text for scholars of political theory and those interested in the history of ideas.
Reviews: Filip Kovacevic has written a compelling critique of liberation theories, starting with Freud and Marx and going up to Alain Badiou. His critique of Mouffe, and Laclau and of Deleuze and Guattari would alone make this book worth reading. But he goes so much further in his thinking than anyone yet. This book is a tour de force and necessary reading for anyone engaged in the contemporary study of politics and critical theory. — Ellie Ragland, professor of English and literary theory, University of Missouri, professor of English and literary theory, University of Missouri Table of Contents: Chapter 1 Introduction 2 Freud's Theses 3 The Liberation Thesis 4 Lacan's Theses 5 Post-Lacanian Theses 6 Contemporary Lacanian Theses: The Liberation Thesis Revisited 7 Conclusion About the Author: Filip Kovacevic is professor of political psychology and leadership studies at the University of Montenegro. |