Psychoanalysis and Ecology at the Edge of Chaos
Complexity Theory, Deleuze|Guattari and Psychoanalysis for a Climate in Crisis
By Joseph Dodds
Published July 25th 2011 by Routledge – 256 pages
Description
This book argues that psychoanalysis has a unique role to play in the climate change debate through its placing emphasis on the unconscious dimensions of our mental and social lives. Exploring contributions from Freudian, Kleinian, Object Relations, Self Psychology, Jungian, and Lacanian traditions, the book discusses how psychoanalysis can help to unmask the anxieties, deficits, conflicts, phantasies and defences crucial in understanding the human dimension of the ecological crisis.
Yet despite being essential to studying environmentalism and its discontents, psychoanalysis still remains largely a 'psychology without ecology.' The philosophy of Deleuze and Guattari, combined with new developments in the sciences of complexity, help us to build upon the best of these perspectives, providing a framework able to integrate Guattari's 'three ecologies' of mind, nature and society. This book thus constitutes a timely attempt to contribute towards a critical dialogue between psychoanalysis and ecology.
Further topics of discussion include:
- ecopsychology and the greening of psychotherapy
- our ambivalent relationship to nature and the non-human
- complexity theory in psychoanalysis and ecology
- defence mechanisms against eco-anxiety and eco-grief
- Deleuze|Guattari and the three ecologies
- becoming-animal in horror and eco-apocalypse in science fiction films
- nonlinear ecopsychoanalysis.
In our era of anxiety, denial, paranoia, apathy, guilt, hope, and despair in the face of climate change, this book offers a fresh and insightful psychoanalytic perspective on the ecological crisis. As such this book will be of great interest to all those in the fields of psychoanalysis, psychology, philosophy, and ecology, as well as all who are concerned with the global environmental challenges affecting our planet's future.
Reviews
"Showing himself to be a 'nomadic scholar' of the highest order Dodds both draws on relevant psychoanalytic ideas to explore the ecological terrain, and points out its limitations in remaining, in spite of all its advantages, fundamentally a psychology without ecology." - Martin Jordan, From the Foreword
"Once in a while, a book enters the field of psychoanalysis that is so revolutionary that it turns everything upside down, causing us to question the very framework under which we operate." - Terry Marks-Tarlow, International Journal of Psychoanalytic Self-Psychology
"A tour de force of ecological, psychoanalytic and poststructural thought… essential reading for any scholar of ecopsychology who wishes to extend his or her thinking into new lines of flight and take some risks along the way." - Renee Lertzman, Ecopsychology
"Psychoanalysis and ecology at the edge of chaos makes a significant contribution to current discussions around the ecological crisis by suggesting that psychoanalysis offers important insights in the problem of climate change and its effects… This is a very useful and interesting book, carefully researched, well organized and clearly written, a very good case of truly interdisciplinary scholarship." - Maria Tamboukou, Psychology in Society
"Occasionally a book is produced which meets the entirety of the mission of this journal… the known but little discussed nexus between psychology, the life sciences, and nonlinear dynamics… Mature students in fields ranging from psychology to ecology to complexity sciences will find this book of value." - Douglas Kiel, Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences
"…a seminal book that introduces a new area of focus that should be read by any psychoanalyst interested in preserving the world for their children and grandchildren." - Terry Marks-Tarlow, International Journal of Psychoanalytic Self-Psychology
Contents
Preface. Jordan, Foreword. Part I: Climate Change: A Psychological Problem. Climate Crisis: Psychoanalysis and the Ecology of Ideas. Theoretical Crisis: Complexity as Meta-theory. Ecology at the Edge of Chaos. Part II: The Phantasy of Ecology: The Psychoanalysis of Climate Change. Classical Psychoanalysis. Eco-anxiety and Defence. Object Relations Theory: A More Ecological Approach to Mind. Part III: The Ecology of Phantasy. Ecopsychology and the Greening of Psychotherapy. Ecology without Nature: Postmodern Ecopsychoanalysis. Becoming-animal and Horror. The Zoological Imagination. Part IV: Nonlinear Ecopsychoanalysis. Entering the Nonlinear World. The Ecology and Complexity of Psychoanalysis. Deleuze|Guattari and the Ecology of Mind. Ecopsychoanalysis and the Future of the Three Ecologies.
Author Bio
Joseph Dodds lectures in various courses in psychology and psychoanalysis at the University of New York in Prague, Charles University's CIEE Study Center, and the Anglo-American University. He is a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) of the British Psychological Society (BPS), a candidate member of the Czech Psychoanalytical Society (IPA) and a psychotherapist in private practice.
Related Subjects
Sample Chapter
Name: Psychoanalysis and Ecology at the Edge of Chaos: Complexity Theory, Deleuze|Guattari and Psychoanalysis for a Climate in Crisis (Paperback) – Routledge
Description: By Joseph Dodds. This book argues that psychoanalysis has a unique role to play in the climate change debate through its placing emphasis on the unconscious dimensions of our mental and social lives. Exploring contributions from Freudian, Kleinian, Object Relations, Self...
Categories: Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Environmental Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Jung & Analytical Psychology, Environment & Philosophy, Environment & Theory
