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- Title
Freedom, Psychoanalysis, and the Radical Political Imaginary.
- Authors
McAfee, Noëlle
- Abstract
In this essay I argue that an Arendtian politics of speaking and acting requires a radical political imaginary that can only be had by inner revolt and radical questioning of ourselves. In making this case, I first engage Hannah Arendt's views on freedom, especially her argument that inner freedom is derivative and mistaken. Second, with Drucilla Cornell, I articulate a post-Freudian understanding of desire and freedom. Third, I turn to the need to address the many obstacles in the contemporary world to exercising this freedom, from a narrow conception of freedom to malaise and neoliberalism. To show how we can overcome these obstacles, fourth I will argue that the inner revolt of psychoanalysis and radical questioning can help create a radical political imaginary that can create new alternatives. Finally it is this capacity born of inner questioning that can help the subject become a "who" in Arendt's sense and en-gage in the kind of speaking and doing that she thought were quintessential of politics.
- Subjects
QUESTIONING; LIBERTY; DESIRE
- Publication
SPELL: Swiss Papers in English Language & Literature, 2015, p87
- ISSN
0940-0478
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5169/seals-583868