Object Relations Psychoanalysis as Political Theory

Abstract

This article examines the political contents of object relations psychoanalysis, a theory that perceives dependence as the natural state of all humans. Unlike the views advanced by the classical state-of-nature models of Locke, Hobbes, and Rousseau, object relations perceives humans in their original state as already grouped and driven by an urge to associate. Company (rather than privacy, property, or political participation) stands out as the basic right, and all the other rights follow on it as instruments for fulfilling it. The primacy of care lends itself to the justification of distributive measures meant to bolster family cohesion and individual confidence at the expense of the open market. The theory is therefore compatible with the premises of the social-democratic welfare state. KEY WORDS: Bowlby, J.; Fairbairn, W. R. D.; object relations; social democracy; state of nature; Suttie, I. D.Psychology and political thought are interlinked. Models of political institutions are based on assumptions about the motivations, anxieties, and limitations of the individuals who inhabit these institutions. Conversely, this often-repeated statement means that any psychological theory entails a political vision. Conceptualizing individuals' basic desires and aversions generates a range of possible assumptions about these individuals' relations to one another within the social frameworks that constitute the material of politics. Psychology may be perceived as a form of political philosophy. Recognizing this, a number of scholars have set on exploring the political aspects of psychoanalytic theories, such as those of Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, and Jacques Lacan (Alford, 1989;Brunner, 1995;Stavrakakis, 1999).Here, I offer a political interpretation of the psychoanalytic tradition identified with

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Race and the Politics of Loss: Revisiting the Legacy of Emmett Till

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