Subtopic Deep Dive
Psychoanalysis and Neoliberalism
Research Guide
What is Psychoanalysis and Neoliberalism?
Psychoanalysis and Neoliberalism examines how neoliberal ideologies restructure subjectivity, desire, and ethics through Lacanian and Deleuzian psychoanalytic lenses, critiquing the psychic toll of capitalist self-governance.
This subtopic analyzes neoliberalism's impact on mental health and resistance via psychoanalytic theory (Chouliaraki, 2020; Vanheule, 2016). Key works include 66-cited paper by Vanheule on Lacanian discourses in capitalism and 114-cited Chouliaraki on vulnerability politics. Over 20 papers from 2012-2020 explore these intersections, with foundational texts like Rogers-Vaughn (2013) framing depression as resistance.
Why It Matters
Psychoanalysis and Neoliberalism reveals how market-driven policies erode communal bonds, fostering isolation and anxiety treated as individual deficits (Rustin, 2014; Rogers-Vaughn, 2013). Cushman (2015) applies relational psychoanalysis to resist neoliberal political structures, informing clinical practices against biopolitical wellbeing metrics (Wright, 2013). Vanheule (2016) links capitalist discourse to subjectivity crises, guiding critiques of mental health commodification in policy debates.
Key Research Challenges
Bridging Psychoanalytic Abstraction
Translating abstract Lacanian concepts like the Big Other into empirical neoliberal effects remains difficult (Vanheule, 2016). Researchers struggle to operationalize desire and jouissance for political analysis. Chouliaraki (2020) highlights gaps in linking vulnerability to victimhood discourses.
Measuring Psychic Costs
Quantifying neoliberalism's mental health impacts, such as depression as resistance, lacks standardized metrics (Rogers-Vaughn, 2013). Wright (2014) critiques wellbeing studies for ignoring psychoanalytic alternatives. Studies like Hietanen et al. (2019) note challenges in evidencing dark desire's role.
Countering Instrumental Rationality
Defending psychoanalytic resistance against rationality critiques in neoliberal governance poses ideological hurdles (Blau, 2020). Cushman (2015) identifies tensions in relational models versus managed care. Flisfeder and Burnham (2017) reveal cultural mediation difficulties.
Essential Papers
Victimhood: The affective politics of vulnerability
Lilie Chouliaraki · 2020 · European Journal of Cultural Studies · 114 citations
In this article, I enquire into the historical circumstances (past and present) under which vulnerability, an embodied and social condition of openness to violence, turns into victimhood, an act of...
Capitalist Discourse, Subjectivity and Lacanian Psychoanalysis
Stijn Vanheule · 2016 · Frontiers in Psychology · 66 citations
This paper studies how <i>subjectivity</i> in capitalist culture can be characterized. Building on Lacan's later seminars XVI, XVII, XVIII, and XIX, the author first outlines Lacan's general discou...
Defending Instrumental Rationality against Critical Theorists
Adrian Blau · 2020 · Political Research Quarterly · 40 citations
Central to much critical theory is the critique of instrumental rationality (roughly, the ability to pick good means to ends). This critique is overstated, I suggest. Critical theorists often depic...
Blessed Are Those Who Mourn: Depression as Political Resistance
Bruce Rogers‐Vaughn · 2013 · Pastoral Psychology · 34 citations
The inhuman challenge: Writing with dark desire
Joel Hietanen, Mikael Andéhn, Alice Wickström · 2019 · Organization · 30 citations
Adaptations of Deleuze’s and Guattari’s philosophizing on the immanent forces of the unconscious have risen to challenge joyous, affirmative readings of their work by bringing the dark and destruct...
Returning to Revolution: Deleuze, Guattari and Zapatismo
Thomas Nail · 2012 · Scholars' Bank (University of Oregon) · 29 citations
Much has been written on Deleuze and Guattari's political philosophy in the last 15 years. Now, Returning to Revolution is the first full-length work to date on their central concept of revolution ...
Belonging to oneself alone: The spirit of neoliberalism
Michael Rustin · 2014 · Psychoanalysis Culture & Society · 28 citations
Reading Guide
Foundational Papers
Start with Rogers-Vaughn (2013) for depression as resistance framework, Rustin (2014) on neoliberal self-belonging, and Nail (2012) for Deleuzian revolution baselines.
Recent Advances
Study Chouliaraki (2020) on vulnerability victimhood, Vanheule (2016) on Lacanian capitalist discourse, and Hietanen et al. (2019) on dark desire.
Core Methods
Core techniques: Lacanian four discourses (Vanheule, 2016), biopolitical wellbeing critique (Wright, 2013-2014), and relational political resistance (Cushman, 2015).
How PapersFlow Helps You Research Psychoanalysis and Neoliberalism
Discover & Search
Research Agent uses searchPapers and exaSearch to find Chouliaraki (2020) on vulnerability politics, then citationGraph reveals Vanheule (2016) clusters and findSimilarPapers uncovers Rogers-Vaughn (2013) connections across 250M+ OpenAlex papers.
Analyze & Verify
Analysis Agent employs readPaperContent on Vanheule (2016) to extract Lacanian discourse quotes, verifyResponse with CoVe checks claims against Wright (2014), and runPythonAnalysis performs citation trend stats with pandas; GRADE scores evidence strength for neoliberal subjectivity claims.
Synthesize & Write
Synthesis Agent detects gaps in Lacanian-neoliberal links post-Rustin (2014), flags contradictions between Chouliaraki (2020) and Blau (2020); Writing Agent uses latexEditText, latexSyncCitations for Vanheule (2016), and latexCompile to produce polished manuscripts with exportMermaid for desire flow diagrams.
Use Cases
"Analyze citation trends of Lacanian psychoanalysis in neoliberal critiques since 2010."
Research Agent → searchPapers('Lacanian neoliberalism') → Analysis Agent → runPythonAnalysis(pandas citation plot) → matplotlib trend graph exported as PNG.
"Draft a review paper section on depression as neoliberal resistance."
Synthesis Agent → gap detection(Rogers-Vaughn 2013) → Writing Agent → latexEditText(draft) → latexSyncCitations(Cushman 2015) → latexCompile(PDF output).
"Find code for modeling capitalist discourse networks from psychoanalytic papers."
Research Agent → paperExtractUrls(Vanheule 2016) → Code Discovery → paperFindGithubRepo → githubRepoInspect(NetworkX graphs for desire flows).
Automated Workflows
Deep Research workflow conducts systematic review: searchPapers(50+ neoliberal psychoanalysis hits) → citationGraph → structured report on Vanheule-Rustin clusters. DeepScan applies 7-step analysis with CoVe checkpoints to verify Rogers-Vaughn (2013) claims against Chouliaraki (2020). Theorizer generates theory linking Deleuze-Guattari revolution (Nail, 2012) to neoliberal resistance hypotheses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What defines Psychoanalysis and Neoliberalism?
It critiques neoliberal reshaping of subjectivity via Lacanian and Deleuzian concepts, focusing on self-governance psychic costs (Vanheule, 2016; Rustin, 2014).
What are core methods?
Methods include Lacanian discourse analysis (Vanheule, 2016), Deleuzian desire mapping (Hietanen et al., 2019), and relational critique (Cushman, 2015).
What are key papers?
Top papers: Chouliaraki (2020, 114 cites) on victimhood; Vanheule (2016, 66 cites) on capitalist subjectivity; Rogers-Vaughn (2013, 34 cites) on depression resistance.
What open problems exist?
Challenges include empirical validation of psychic costs (Wright, 2013) and integrating cultural analyses like Flisfeder (2017) with policy resistance (Cushman, 2015).
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