7 RUE DE FLEURUS, A SALON MEETING
“Psychoanalysis and Thought Control:
Reflections on Cold War Culture and Clinical Knowledge”
Daniel Pick, Presenter
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
8:00 to 10:00pm
Location: TBA
‘Brainwashing’, a term that was coined around 1950, harked back to the period of fascism and captured rising fears of Maoist mind control, that escalated through the following decades. Brainwashing’ became a recurring theme of conversation in the age of ‘totalitarianism” and is still widely used as a reference point, in many different contexts, including in popular culture. In this talk I want to ask what psychoanalysis contributed to understanding states of psychic take-over, including accounts of fanatical collective psychology. I will refer to several key examples from the interwar and immediate post-war periods. Combining personal stories and anecdotes, cultural images and case studies with broader discussion of the psychoanalytic vision of the mind, the aim is to open up a larger debate about the talking cure and post-war political thought. During the evening we will also show a couple of clips from seminal movies of the period that dramatised the struggle between psychic tyranny and freedom for mass audiences. Finally, I would like to ponder how Freudian ideas, and clinical knowledge were co-opted in the Cold War, and to invite debate about the role of psychoanalysis and allied professions in modern thought on totalitarianism and brainwashing.
Daniel Pick is a psychoanalyst and cultural historian. He read English at Cambridge, before embarking on a PhD in history, and later clinical training. Alongside his private clinical practice, he is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is a fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society and of the Royal Historical Society. He currently co-runs an MA programme at Birkbeck on Psychoanalysis, History and Culture, and leads undergraduate courses, as well as supervising a variety of doctoral projects. Daniel has written on the history of psychoanalysis and psychiatry; evolutionary theory and the idea of degeneration in the nineteenth century, eugenics and social Darwinism; modern ideas of war; the myth of Svengali; popular culture at the turn of the century, and cultural attitudes to crime and madness in the Victorian period. His publications include The Pursuit of the Nazi Mind: Hitler, Hess, and the Analysts (2012),Rome or Death: The Obsessions of General Garibaldi (2005), as editor (with Lyndal Roper), Dreams and History: The Interpretation of Dreams from Ancient Greece to Modern Psychoanalysis (2004), and Faces of Degeneration: A European Disorder, c.1848-1918 (1989). He has frequently contributed to radio programmes about psychoanalysis and cultural history has also written numerous academic articles as well as feature pieces for newspapers and magazines. He is an editor of the History Workshop Journal, and a member of the advisory board of the journal Psychoanalysis and Historyand the Cambridge University Press book series, Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture. He is also on the editorial board of the New Library of Psychoanalysis.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this program, participants will be able to:
1) consider the impact of the political world on shaping psychoanalysis
2) think about the impact of the Third Reich, particularly on the future of psychoanalysis
3) discuss how psychoanalytic thinking can impact the larger culture.
CE Credits:
Psychologists: The Contemporary Freudian Society is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education programs for psychologists. CFS maintains responsibility for this program and its content. CE credits are granted to participants with documented attendance and completed evaluation forms. Attendance is monitored. Credit will not be granted to registrants who arrive late, or depart early. It is the responsibility of participants seeking APA-approved CE credits to comply with the requirements outlined below. Upon completion of these requirements, participants will be given 2 CE credits.
The fee for the 2 CE credits is $20.00. An evaluation form will be emailed to you. You will receive a Certificate of Attendance with your CE credits upon receipt of the completed evaluation form.
Important Disclosure Information:None of the planners and presenters of this CE program have any relevant financial relationships to disclose.
Suggested Program Contribution:$15.00
CE Credits (Optional): $20.00
Nancy Cromer Grayson and Debra Gill, Co-Chairs, Susan N. Finkelstein, Moderator
For additional information, please contact Debra Gill (212-534-0669 ordebra.gill@gmail.com) or Nancy Cromer-Grayson (212-427-9023 orcromergrayson@gmail.com).
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The Contemporary Freudian Society
Salon Meeting – 4/2/14
11 Bunker Hill Drive
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