1st Edition
Psychoanalysis, Science and Power Essays in Honour of Robert Maxwell Young
Psychoanalysis, Science and Power reexamines the current state of psychoanalysis and science and technology studies as they have been influenced by Robert Maxwell Young’s work.
Robert Maxwell Young, a Texas émigré to Britain, was a scholar, publisher, TV documentarian, psychoanalytic psychotherapist, journal editor, conference organizer and political activist. Young urged that psychoanalysis, particularly in its Kleinian incarnation, illuminated new aspects of science and technology studies, and vice versa. This volume not only provides an overview of Young’s life and interests by a stellar cast of scholars and practitioners but also commemorates the many and intersecting streams of his contributions, reasoning for their continuing relevance in the contemporary studies of psychoanalysis, biological sciences, technology and Darwinian thought.
Presenting perspectives that are rigorously analytical and yet often poignant, Psychoanalysis, Science and Power will be an important read for students, analysts and analytic therapists of all orientations who are interested in broadening their understanding of their practice.
Introduction
Kurt Jacobsen and R. D. Hinshelwood
Part 1: Darwin and Malthus: The Cambridge Years
1. Roger Smith, "Relations: History of science and the thought of the therapist"
2. Jim A. Secord, "Revolutions in the head: Darwin, Malthus and Robert M. Young"
3. Timothy Sim, "The Reception of Robert M. Young's Mind, Brain and Adaptation in the Nineteenth Century"
4. Michael Ruse, "Robert M. Young's Darwinian aftermath"
Part 2: Politics of History and Technology
5. Kurt Jacobsen, "Paradigm at bay: Robert M. Young and the dialectical development of dcience and technology studies"
6. Maureen McNeil, "Science is social relation: Reflections on the essay and the intervention"
7. Les Levidow, "'Let's move on': Bob Young’s contribution to radical science concepts and practices"
Part 3: Psychoanalysis
8. Barry Richards, "Bob Young and the Free Associations project: A personal recollection"
9. Ann Scott, "Bob Young at Free Associations Books"
10. Karl Figlio, "Money as the currency of value"
11. Peter Barham, "Schizophrenia in history: Outsiders, innovators and race"
12. R. D. Hinshelwood, "Values: Inner and outer"
13. Paul Hoggett, "Primitive space"
14. Valerie Sinason, "Robert M. Young: A farewell"
Conclusion: Bob Young and Regenerating his Project
Kurt Jacobsen and R. D. Hinshelwood
Appendix: An interview with Bob Young
Biography
Kurt Jacobsen is co-editor of Free Associations journal and research associate in the Political Science Department at the University of Chicago, USA. He also is an award-winning documentary filmmaker.
R. D. Hinshelwood is a Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society, previously Professor at Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex (now Emeritus, Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies), UK. He was Consultant Psychotherapist in the NHS for many years, and Director of the Cassel Hospital, 1993–1997. He has a long association with Free Associations journal.
"This collection makes a powerful case for putting Bob Young at the heart of the intellectual maelstrom which led to the creation of Science and Technology Studies, a programme of engaged scholarship from whose history he has too often been excluded." – David Edgerton, Hans Rausing Professor of History of Science, Kings College London, UK
"This is a rich collection of essays that cover the extraordinary range of Bob Young's intellectual and political engagements. The contributions introduce Young's psychopolitical concerns and simultaneously extend his thinking, thereby illustrating the continuing relevance of his theoretical endeavours. This book is highly recommended, as reading it will provide rich rewards." – Amal Treacher Kabesh, University of Nottingham, UK
"Whenever I reminisce about Robert Young, an image of Leonardo da Vinci pops into my mind. An esteemed clinician, historian, scholar, publisher, editor, author and critic, Bob Young – more than anyone else in the psychoanalytical community – deserves to be recognised as a true ‘Renaissance Man’. Thankfully, Kurt Jacobsen and R. D. Hinshelwood have curated a masterpiece of riveting tributes to this remarkable gentleman who challenged the ‘elitism’ of psychoanalysis and who dared to speak out bravely and boldly with wisdom and fortitude. Professor Young will be much missed but, happily, due to this magnificent book, he will always be remembered." – Professor Brett Kahr, Senior Fellow, Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology, London; Honorary Director of Research, Freud Museum London, UK
"This multi-voiced volume is a fine tribute to a remarkable man. Robert Young’s unorthodox, ever-questing brilliance sparked young historians of science in the 70s and went on to inspire new ways of thinking with psychoanalysis and about science and technology for the rest of his long and engaged life. In probing Young’s work, these elegant, disputatious essays by leaders across a variety of fields themselves illuminate a spectrum of ideas key to the formation of our times." – Lisa Appignanesi, OBE, FRSL; author, Freud’s Women (with John Forrester), Mad, Bad and Sad and Everyday Madness
"Anyone remotely interested in in the fields of Science and Technology Studies and/or psychoanalysis – especially if they are interested in changing as well as understanding the world – will be inspired by this collection of essays honouring the polymathic scholar and activist Bob Young. Over a fifty-year career Young challenged his students, colleagues and comrades to rethink the foundations of their beliefs and practices through his seminal writings and interventions, initially as an historian and social analyst of science, and later as a psychotherapist and teacher of psychoanalytic theory. By assessing Young’s career and intellectual legacy, the distinguished contributors to this volume are offering a new generation of scholars and activists some powerful tools to demystify their disciplines and sustain their struggles to make a better world." – Dr Gary Werskey, University of Sydney, Australia
