Traces of Violence and Freedom of Thought

This book questions the political rhetoric of power, in its contemporary and historical forms, in the light of psychoanalytic thinking. The essays encompass a wide range of theoretical resources, methodological approaches and geo-political areas. From the role of rhetoric in political life to the investigation of the enduring consequences of violence and historical trauma, they share a tension to work within a psychosocial studies framework by unsettling the common demarcation between the psychological, the social and the political dimensions. The strong attention paid to historical contexts unsettles the dominant understanding of temporality which separates the past and the present. The authors, either explicitly or implicitly, point to the fusion of temporalities and argue that the past persists in the present relentlessly. Due to its theoretical engagements and the case studies provided, this interdisciplinary collection will be of value to postgraduate and undergraduate students of psychology, philosophy, politics and history.

Lene Auestad holds a doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Oslo, previously affiliated with the Centre for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities, Norway.