The connections between psychoanalysis and critical theory: the intersubjective theory of Jessica Benjamin in the analysis of contemporary authoritarianism

• Ano de defesa: 2023
• Autor(a) principal: César, Juliana de Azevedo Castro
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Instituição de defesa: Biblioteca Digitais de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Palavras-chave em Português: Authoritarianism; Autoritarismo; Critical theory; Escola de Frankfurt; Frankfurt School; Jessica Benjamin; Teoria crítica; Vulnerabilidade; Vulnerability
• Link de acesso: https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8131/tde-15122023-192552/

Considering the resurgence of authoritarianism throughout the globe, many contemporary critical scholars have suggested the recuperation of the negative thinkers of the first generation of the Frankfurt School because their work would offer the necessary resources for a deep understanding of the irrationality and aggressiveness at the public sphere. In contrast, the following generations would fail to grasp such forces, focusing on vain normative hopes. However, these authors critique of the first generations aporias also makes the direct resuming of this approach problematic, leading contemporary critical theorists to seek alternative psychoanalytic references beyond classic psychoanalysis. In this context, Jessica Benjamins psychoanalysis offers an invaluable tool to make sense of our current social context while also sustaining the possibility of recognition. Largely disregarded by contemporary scholars, Benjamin develops a mutualistic concept of recognition that increasingly incorporates negative elements. To sustain the appropriateness of her work to contemporary critical theory, I first go through the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and Donald Winnicott, essential references for critical theory and for Benjamin. Second, I trace the interlocution of critical theory and psychoanalysis from the first to the third generations, focusing on their diagnosis of authoritarianism and their understanding of emancipation. Third, I present Benjamins first and most famous productions. Fourth, I contrast her early thinking to that of Axel Honneth, arguing that he misread her work, passing on an erroneous interpretation. Finally, I present the more recent developments of Benjamins work, from the intermediate writing of the 1990s to her most recent productions. Her late interpretation has the advantage of recognizing the place of anti-sociability in human relationships while sustaining the possibility of intersubjectivity allowed by embracing mutual vulnerability culminating in a highly dialectic account of recognition. I conclude that Jessica Benjamins psychoanalysis, especially her latest theory, offers essential theoretical resources for analyzing contemporary authoritarianism.