1st Edition

Neoliberalism, Ethics and the Social Responsibility of Psychology Dialogues at the Edge

284 Pages
by Routledge

284 Pages
by Routledge

284 Pages
by Routledge

This volume encompasses deeply critical dialogues that question how the field of psychology exists within and is shaped by the current neoliberal political context. Spanning from psychoanalysis to post-colonial theory, these far-reaching discussions consider how a greater ethical responsiveness to human experience and sociopolitical arrangements may reopen the borders of psychological discourse.... Read more

Introduction: Manic Societies and Overfunctioning Sciences

David M. Goodman, Heather Macdonald and Sara Carabbio-Thopsey

1. The Personal Is Political: A Conversation with Jeff Sugarman

Interviewed by Mark Freeman

2. Subjectivity and the Critical Imagination in Neoliberal Capitalism: A Conversation with Thomas Teo

Interviewed by Dennis C. Wendt

3. Culture, Context, and Coloniality: Bhatia's Decolonizing Psychology and Kirschner's Sociocultural Subjectivities

Sunil Bhatia and Suzanne R. Kirschner

4. Psychology as Apparatus: An Interview with Sam Binkley

Interviewed by Derek Hook

5. Infinite Greed and Transcendental Materialism: A Conversation with Adrian Johnston

Interviewed by Heather Macdonald 

6. On Destructiveness: A Conversation with Sue Grand

Interviewed by Jill Salberg 

7. Taking Persons Seriously: A Conversation with Jack Martin

Interviewed by Jeff Sugarman

8. Philosophical Hermeneutics and Psychological Understanding: A Conversation with Frank C. Richardson

Interviewed by Jeff Sugarman

Biography

Heather Macdonald is a core faculty at Fielding Graduate University in their Clinical Psychology program. Dr. Macdonald’s scholarly research focuses on the interface between culture, social justice, relational ethics, clinical practice, and post-colonial thought.

Sara Carabbio-Thopsey is a licensed clinical psychologist serving children and families in the greater Boston area. Her interests include the historical, cultural, and neoliberal complexities that impact children.

David M. Goodman is Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and External Relations at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College, where he also serves as the director of Psychological Humanities and Ethics.

"Neoliberalism, Ethics, and the Social Responsibility of Psychology: Dialogues at the Edge brings us up close to the exciting work of interdisciplinary iconoclasts in several fields as they talk informally about their work with iconoclastic colleagues. Each dialogue is truly 'at the edge,' opening readers’ minds to questions and ideas that the writers’ home disciplines too often police, appropriate, suppress. Each writer also offers a personal story that reveals the costs, bravery, and, sometimes, the loneliness of challenging dominant Eurocentric, neoliberal, individualistic, and universalizing paradigms, of breaking disciplinary boundaries. No matter in what discipline you comfortably or uncomfortably reside, this book will challenge you to rethink what you know about subjectivity and its discontents." Lynne Layton is author of Toward a Social Psychoanalysis: Culture, Character, and Normative Unconscious Processes

"This book is a portrait of psychology in the heart of the beast. It is a remarkable collection of challenging and hopeful responses to psychology’s collusion with toxic forces that threaten American society. Several of psychology’s great interdisciplinary thinkers spell out the dangers and opportunities that confront the profession as it both flees from and engages its ethical responsibilities." Philip Cushman is a retired teacher, psychotherapist, and semi-retired writer, hisrecent publications include Travels with the Self: Interpreting Psychology as Cultural History, and Hermeneutic Approaches to Interpretive Research: Dissertations in a Different Key