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Neoliberalism, Ethics and the Social Responsibility of Psychology
Dialogues at the Edge
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Book Description
This volume encompasses deeply critical dialogues that question how the field of psychology exists within and is shaped by the current neoliberal political context. Spanning from psychoanalysis to post-colonial theory, these far-reaching discussions consider how a greater ethical responsiveness to human experience and sociopolitical arrangements may reopen the borders of psychological discourse.
With the understanding that psychology grows in the soil of neoliberal terrain and is a chief fertilizer for neoliberal expansion, the interviews in this book explore alternative possibilities for how this field of study might function. By offering their own unique responses regarding the current condition of their respective disciplines, these scholars critically consider the current conceptual frameworks that set the theoretical boundaries of psychology, and contemplate the ethical responsibility currently affecting the field.
This book will prove essential for scholars and students across several disciplines including psychology, philosophy, ethics, and post-colonial and socio-cultural studies, as well as practising mental health professionals with an interest in the importance of psychological social theory.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Manic Societies and Overfunctioning Sciences
David M. Goodman, Heather Macdonald and Sara Carabbio-Thopsey
1. The Personal Is Political: A Conversation with Jeff Sugarman
Interviewed by Mark Freeman
2. Subjectivity and the Critical Imagination in Neoliberal Capitalism: A Conversation with Thomas Teo
Interviewed by Dennis C. Wendt
3. Culture, Context, and Coloniality: Bhatia's Decolonizing Psychology and Kirschner's Sociocultural Subjectivities
Sunil Bhatia and Suzanne R. Kirschner
4. Psychology as Apparatus: An Interview with Sam Binkley
Interviewed by Derek Hook
5. Infinite Greed and Transcendental Materialism: A Conversation with Adrian Johnston
Interviewed by Heather Macdonald
6. On Destructiveness: A Conversation with Sue Grand
Interviewed by Jill Salberg
7. Taking Persons Seriously: A Conversation with Jack Martin
Interviewed by Jeff Sugarman
8. Philosophical Hermeneutics and Psychological Understanding: A Conversation with Frank C. Richardson
Interviewed by Jeff Sugarman
Editor(s)
Biography
Heather Macdonald is a core faculty at Fielding Graduate University in their Clinical Psychology program. Dr. Macdonald’s scholarly research focuses on the interface between culture, social justice, relational ethics, clinical practice, and post-colonial thought.
Sara Carabbio-Thopsey is a licensed clinical psychologist serving children and families in the greater Boston area. Her interests include the historical, cultural, and neoliberal complexities that impact children.
David M. Goodman is Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and External Relations at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College, where he also serves as the director of Psychological Humanities and Ethics.
Reviews
"Neoliberalism, Ethics, and the Social Responsibility of Psychology: Dialogues at the Edge brings us up close to the exciting work of interdisciplinary iconoclasts in several fields as they talk informally about their work with iconoclastic colleagues. Each dialogue is truly 'at the edge,' opening readers’ minds to questions and ideas that the writers’ home disciplines too often police, appropriate, suppress. Each writer also offers a personal story that reveals the costs, bravery, and, sometimes, the loneliness of challenging dominant Eurocentric, neoliberal, individualistic, and universalizing paradigms, of breaking disciplinary boundaries. No matter in what discipline you comfortably or uncomfortably reside, this book will challenge you to rethink what you know about subjectivity and its discontents." Lynne Layton is author of Toward a Social Psychoanalysis: Culture, Character, and Normative Unconscious Processes
"This book is a portrait of psychology in the heart of the beast. It is a remarkable collection of challenging and hopeful responses to psychology’s collusion with toxic forces that threaten American society. Several of psychology’s great interdisciplinary thinkers spell out the dangers and opportunities that confront the profession as it both flees from and engages its ethical responsibilities." Philip Cushman is a retired teacher, psychotherapist, and semi-retired writer, hisrecent publications include Travels with the Self: Interpreting Psychology as Cultural History, and Hermeneutic Approaches to Interpretive Research: Dissertations in a Different Key