What is the best way to understand the narratives of self-identity at the beginning of the 21st century? This interdisciplinary collection brings together perspectives from analytical psychology, sociology, psychiatry, psychosocial studies, and psychoanalysis to consider questions about individuation and freedom in our unhinged world.
The contributors discuss the meaning of, and need for, individuation in individualized and liquid societies. The book begins with a comparison of three approaches: C.G. Jung's individuation, Ulrich Beck's individualization, and Zygmunt Bauman's liquidity. This sets the tone for further consideration of topics including guilt, social media, global nomads, and surveillance. Theoretical reflections are enhanced by clinical material, and the book emphasizes the connections between sociology and psychoanalysis, offering significant insights into the importance of psychosocial approaches.
This timely work will be of great interest to academics and scholars of psychosocial studies, Jungian studies, sociology, and politics.
About the Author: Stefano Carpani, M.A., M.Phil. is an Italian sociologist (post-graduate of the University of Cambridge) and psychoanalyst who trained at the C.G. Jung Institute, Zürich, accredited analyst CGJI-Z/IAAP, and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytical Studies at University of Essex. He works in private practice in Berlin in English, Italian, and Spanish. He is the initiator of the YouTube interview series Breakfast at Küsnacht, which aims to capture the voices of senior Jungians. Since 2017, he has collected more than 70 interviews. He is among the initiators of Psychosocial Wednesdays, a digital salon modeled on Freud's Wednesday meetings in Vienna and Jung's meetings at the Psychological Club, which features speakers from various psychoanalytic traditions, schools, and associated fields. He is the author of numerous papers and edited volumes, including Breakfast at Küsnacht: Conversations on C. G. Jung and Beyond (Chiron, 2020--IAJS book award finalist, for Best edited Book); The Plural Turn in Jungian and Post-Jungian Studies: The Work of Andrew Samuels (Routledge, 2021); Anthology of Contemporary Classics in Analytical psychology: The New Ancestors (Routledge, 2022); Lockdown Therapy: Jungian Perspectives on how the Pandemic Changed Psychoanalysis (Routledge, in print, July 2022).
