{"product_id":"critique-on-the-couch-why-critical-theory-needs-psychoanalysis-9780231198615","title":"Critique on the Couch: Why Critical Theory Needs Psychoanalysis","description":"\u003cp\u003eDoes critical theory still need psychoanalysis? In \u003ci\u003eCritique on the Couch\u003c\/i\u003e, Amy Allen offers a cogent and convincing defense of its ongoing relevance. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCountering the overly rationalist and progressivist interpretations of psychoanalysis put forward by contemporary critical theorists such as Jürgen Habermas and Axel Honneth, Allen argues that the work of Melanie Klein offers an underutilized resource. She draws on Freud, Klein, and Lacan to develop a more realistic strand of psychoanalytic thinking that centers on notions of loss, negativity, ambivalence, and mourning. Far from leading to despair, such an understanding of human subjectivity functions as a foundation of creativity, productive self-transformation, and progressive social change. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt a time when critical theorists are increasingly returning to psychoanalytic thought to diagnose the dysfunctions of our politics, this book opens up new ways of understanding the political implications of psychoanalysis while preserving the progressive, emancipatory aims of critique.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmy Allen is Liberal Arts Professor of Philosophy and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and head of the Philosophy Department at the Pennsylvania State University. Her previous Columbia University Press books include \u003ci\u003eThe End of Progress: Decolonizing the Normative Foundations of Critical Theory\u003c\/i\u003e (2016) and \u003ci\u003eTransitional Subjects: Critical Theory and Object Relations\u003c\/i\u003e (2019, coedited with Brian O'Connor).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50478389690642,"sku":"9780231198615","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a841567d-b0c0-48d2-8d46-6de9b287d14f.jpg?v=1730298950","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/critique-on-the-couch-why-critical-theory-needs-psychoanalysis-9780231198615","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}