Too little is ever thought about the unconscious dimension of the mind when considering political and ideological issues and crises. To redress this lacuna, R. D. Hinshelwood presents eleven of his most inspiring papers on the relevance of psychoanalytic thinking to politics alongside a series of in-depth discussions with Giuseppe Caruso. R. D. Hinshelwood draws from five decades of experience to present a collection of papers on the relationships between psychoanalysis and politics. Divided into four parts, each chapter begins with a short introduction from the author to contextualise the featured paper and each part ends on an in-depth discussion with Giuseppe Caruso to clarify and advance understanding of the issues raised. They discuss the relevance of psychoanalysis, the science of the unconscious, and the numerous political topics addressed. Politics involves conscious debate but it is inevitably intruded upon by unconscious determinants that key in with social attitudes and issues. Hinshelwood draws upon the theory and work of Melanie Klein, W. R. Bion, and Herbert Rosenfeld, as well as his work with and on organisations and therapeutic communities. His writing is imbued with an acute sensibility to social and political matters and engages not only those with an interest in psychoanalysis but also those interested in the social sciences and cultural studies. AUTHORS: R. D. Hinshelwood is professor emeritus at the University of Essex, and previously clinical director at the Cassel Hospital, London. He is a fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society, and a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He authored A Dictionary of Kleinian Thought in 1989, and Clinical Klein in 1994. A long-time advocate of alternative psychiatry, he was a founding member of The Association of Therapeutic Communities in 1974; and in 1980 he founded, with colleagues, The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities. He was involved in the Psychoanalysis and Public Sphere conferences in the 1980s and 1990s, and he has contributed each year to the Psychoanalysis and Political Mind Seminars. He has been a member of the Labour Party for fifty years. Giuseppe Caruso is a psychoanalyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society. He works in private practice in London. As a social theorist he has published widely on global justice movements and cosmopolitanism and, more recently, integrating psychoanalytic insights to explore emotional cycles and leadership in groups. His earlier research involved ethnographic fieldwork with the Shipibo-Konibo people in Peru, leading to a monograph about their traditional medical practices.
