Review
Zaretsky offers a fascinating analysis of the inherent political ambivalence of psychoanalysis and its intertwined conservative and utopian strands. His book is a deeply interesting and important contribution to debates about the relationship between psychoanalysis, critical theory, and politics. -- Amy R. Allen, author of The End of Progress: Decolonizing the Normative Foundations of Critical Theory
Much of twentieth-century political thought, ideologies, and movements cannot be understood without grasping the influence of psychoanalysis. Critical theory, postcolonial understandings of race, interpretations of the Holocaust and war, feminism, and the New Left all drew on Freud in both high theory and everyday understanding. In Political Freud, Zaretsky narrates the twentieth-century story with verve and insight and shows how the influences continue into the twenty-first. -- Craig Calhoun, director, London School of Economics and Political Science
Zaretsky is one of the best historians of Freudian thought. Once again he shows the social and political impact of psychoanalysis and the central role it plays in the second half of the twentieth century, in the feminist movement, the struggle of homosexuals, antiracism, and criticism of colonialism and totalitarianism. At the heart of this approach, Zaretsky analyzes Freud's relationship to his Jewishness. A remarkable book. -- Elisabeth Roudinesco, author of Philosophy in Turbulent Times: Canguilhem, Sartre, Foucault, Althusser, Deleuze, Derrida
In this nuanced, historically attuned, and deeply felt consideration of the conflicting political implications of psychoanalysis, Eli Zaretsky traces the ways in which Freud's theories were employed to address the most pressing issues of the past century: war, racism, the Holocaust, identity politics, and the never-ending crisis of capitalism. He shows how it has underpinned conformity as well as fueled critique. Against the current of our Freud-bashing times, Zaretsky makes a powerful case for his continuing relevance as an interpreter of both our political dreams and worst nightmares. -- Martin Jay, University of California, Berkeley
Readers will emerge from Political Freud with a clearer sense of what is lost and must be recovered in the much-maligned psychoanalytic tradition. This brilliant riposte to Freud-bashers ought to be, as they say, on every shelf. -- Kurt Jacobsen ― Logos: A Journal of Modern Society & Culture
A fascinating and compelling account of the cultural and philosophical impact of psychoanalysis on the 20th-century political scene.... [Political Freud] reveals just how deeply it is woven into the US political fabric, both conservative and progressive. Indispensable for historians of 20th-century thought and politics. ― Choice
[A] compelling and valuable examination.... Zaretsky offers a very powerful and broad account of how psychoanalysis and twentieth-century culture emerged together, tested each other critically, and shifted in response to the pressures and forces that each aroused. -- Stephen Frosh ― American Imago
Richly researched.... and elegantly argued. -- Elizabeth Ann Danto ― Contemporary Psychoanalysis
The book is a resource for understanding what went wrong and how to create a better future. ― Psychohistory News
[Zaretsky] provides a valuable context to help us grapple with the ways historical changes have impacted Freudianism with an eye to recuperating the best of an inwardly revolutionary movement. -- Dan Dervin ― The Journal of Psychohistory
A sustained and convincing plea by the historian Eli Zaretsky for the continued relevance of Freud and Freudianism in the early twenty-first-century world. -- Paul Lerner ― Times Literary Supplement
Timely and needed. ― Perspectives on Politics
A well-documented history worth reading. -- Chris Byron ― Marx and Philosophy Review of Books
Political Freud is a very interesting recording and interpretation of the interactions of Freudian psychoanalysis with the major historical events of the twentieth century. It offers a comprehensive and coherent narrative. -- Antonis Galanopoulos ― Political Studies Review
A tour de force of historical reconstruction. -- Richard H. King ― Journal of American Studies
About the Author
Eli Zaretsky is a professor of history at the New School for Social Research. His previous works include Why America Needs a Left: A Historical Argument; Secrets of the Soul: A Social and Cultural History of Psychoanalysis; and Capitalism, the Family, and Personal Life.
