Essay on Psychoanalysis and Racism
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Added on 2020-05-28
Essay on Psychoanalysis and Racism
Added on 2020-05-28
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Running head: PSYCHOANALYSIS AND RACISMPSYCHOANALYSIS AND RACISMName of student:Name of university:Author note:
1PSYCHOANALYSIS AND RACISMPsychoanalysis has long been interested in the study of the critical race theory. Theterm race has political, social and economic connotation. Racism is anchored in the idea ofthe discrimination, exclusion and marginalization encountered by individuals andcommunities based on their skin colour and physical attributes. The discourse of race ispremised on the self and other. In the context of race, this other is viewed abomination andsuspicion. The phobia that is generated due to the bigotric understanding of race propelsviolence to the others. Psychoanalysis is understood as the method of enquiry of the cognitionespecially the unconscious mind of the individual. It is also understood as the therapy ofneurosis informed by the paradigm of examining the unconscious mind. Another aspect ofpsychoanalysis is that it is rooted in knowledge that is derived from the application of theinvestigative method and the clinical experiments. Recently, psychoanalysis have also drawnfrom sociology and anthropology to refine the trope of psychoanalytic therapy. This essaymakes an attempt to explore and examine the psychoanalysis and its understanding of racism.It also identifies contributions of doyens of psychoanalysis in refining the theory of race.There is a discussion of the different approaches of race theories within the trope ofpsychoanalysis. Some of these theories are relationalist, attachment theory, positivist theoryand radical analytic theory that have both strengths and weakness in explaining the causesand effects of racism in the everyday life.The meaning of racism is embedded in two key approaches. The first underpinning ofracism is that it is a way of organizing or configuring individuals, groups, relationships orcommodities through the contours of race (Lynn & Dixson, 2013). The second underpinningof race is that it is situated in the trope of emotions. Racism evokes a set of negative feelingsthat includes repulsion, hatred, abomination and disgust expressed by one group towardsanother. Morgan (2002) opines that racism precedes the concept of race. Race is a dynamicword that harps on the aspiration of privilege and power. It emphasizes on the idea of
2PSYCHOANALYSIS AND RACISMfragmenting the world into racial groups and subsequently assign certain characteristics witheach race. Psychoanalysts have been vocal about stating that the psychology of prejudice hasled to racism. The analytic accounts do not take into account the issue of power.A spate of studies have surfaced in the field of racism and psychoanalysis. Race isunderstood as a marker for physical differences among different individuals and groups. Thehistory of racism is related to the social theoretical accounts. Racism has been understood asthe way it becomes easily attached to the emotional and psychological life of individuals andleads to the development of negative judgements about another group (Ladson-Billing &Tate, 2016). The psychological mechanism of dealing with negative internal objects isthrough project identification and projection. Clarke has provided a complex understandingof the differences between projection difference and projection (Dalal, 2006). Theunderstanding of projection is that that it entails a linear and explicit process where anindividual attribute their affective states to other. In other words, individuals are depresseddue to the behaviour of their colleagues at the workplace and may feel miserable abouthis/her colleagues. On the other the notion of project identification is premised on the idea ofdeep split in which the self is split into different parts (Lacan, 2013). Projection can beperilous as the recipient with paranoid thoughts. On the other hand, project identificationentails compelling the feelings into the recipient and thus it becomes communicativeThe focus of psychoanalysis is to intervene and investigate the causes of theoccurrences in the external world through a perusal of the internal psychological worldpertaining to the individuals. Fanon’s work titled Black Skin White Masks have been pathbreaking in the study of psychoanalysis and racism. Fanon was keen on understanding theimage of the white person in relation to the black person through the concept of Lacan’smirror stage. The colonial black identity is constructed through the dominant whiteness. Theblack person faces oppression as I and is persecuted as the other (Frosh, 2013). Fanon is
3PSYCHOANALYSIS AND RACISMcredited for the introduction of the issue of power into psychoanalysis. He demonstrates thathuman psychology is tied to historical and socio-political facts. Fanon argued that the hiddendesire of the Black man is to become white (Hook & Truscott, 2013). This desire to becomewhite is not a universal or transhistorical character but it is an outcome of a particular kind oforganization of power. Fanon argued that the balcks dream of becoming white and this dreamis to be understood as a neurotic condition. Neurosis is defined as an emotional disorder andis witnessed in the level of the personality emerging from the tussle between the instinct tobecome a powerful individual and the need to suppress it. Freud (2017) who is considered to be the father of psychoanalytic has offeredprofound and perusal framework to understanding racism. Although, Freud has beensubjected to tremendous criticism for developing a pseudo-science and claiming itpsychoanalysis yet his contributions to the field is indelible. Psychoanalysis offers range ofexplanations regarding racism. The first understanding of racism in psychoanalysis is thatsimilar to the transference in senses as propounded by Freud. It is repetition withoutremembering (Dalal, 2006). The occurrences and behaviours in one’s adult life ischaracterized by repetitions and a series of patterns embedded during the period of childhood.The second understand is premised on the notion of individual or group dichotomy.According to this approach, racism is believed to be a group phenomenon that invokesindividual to its path through the process of contagion. This approach also underlines on theinfluence of group on the actions of the individual. Therefore, it reiterates that the collectiveencompasses the individual. In a group situation, there is an erosion of the sensibilities of theindividual (Elliott, 2015). The third understanding in this light is the influence of biology orgenes, in other words our instincts that inform our actions. This explanation amounts tobiological determinism. The fourth explanation is more popular and the features of which arerepression, splitting and projection. According to this approach, if the ordeals and challenges
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