Customer Reviews

The Cultural Complex: Contemporary Jungian Perspectives on Psyche and Society

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Jungian psychology has tended to analyze the individual in terms of complexes and society in terms of archetypes. This anthology introduces the idea of the cultural complex: a psychic pattern that can promote group identity but, when operating unconsciously, can seize entire populations with irrational impulses, stereotypical behavior, and dangerous forms of acting out. One has only to think about the hysterical and authoritarian reactions to 9/11 in America to see a cultural complex at work.

A strength of this anthology is that it includes contributors from around the world, each applying cultural complex theory to actual examples drawn from immediate experience.

Singer and Kimbles have bridged a huge gap in the depth psychological approach to understanding and dealing with collective trauma.

A colleague suggested I read this book because I often critique psychotherapy's emphasis upon the individual without attention to group dynamics as they express themselves in racism and sexism. Interestingly, Amazon only credits one of the co-editors, Tom Singer, as the "author" even though the book cover clearly lists Singer and Sam Kimbles as co-editors. Is this Amazon's own (unwitting) participation in the group dynamic of racism? Amazon lists the White man as but not the Black man? Where have I seen that before.....