Destroyed World and the Guilty Self

David P. Levine is emeritus professor in the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. He holds a PhD in economics from Yale University and a Certificate in Psychoanalytic Scholarship from the Colorado Center for Psychoanalytic Studies. He has published extensively in the fields of economics, political economy, and psychoanalysis. In the field of psychoanalysis, he has published books on work, creativity, ethics, and politics. His most recent publication is Dark Fantasy: Regressive Movements and the Search for Meaning in Politics. He currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.Matthew H. Bowker is a professor in political science at Medaille College in Buffalo, New York, where he teaches courses in psychoanalytic theory, political philosophy, ethics, and more. He holds degrees from Columbia University and the University of Maryland, College Park and recently (2018) completed a Fulbright grant. He is the author or editor of eleven books — including a volume on the psychoanalysis of Hikikomori and severe social withdrawal (forthcoming from Phoenix) — and several dozen articles and chapters on psychoanalysis and politics. He serves as editor (N. America) of the Journal of Psychosocial Studies, co-editor of the Psychoanalytic Political Theory book series (Routledge), and sits on numerous editorial and advisory boards.

• About the authorsIntroduction1. Godforsaken2. Being Wrong3. Guilt and Responsibility4. Guilty Selves and Social Systems5. Shame and the Impaired Self6. Speaking Out, Remaining Silent7. Abandonment8. Survivors9. The Broken Family and the Destroyed WorldConclusionReferencesIndex

…the book offers an important and substantive argument in our fraught political times. Levine and Bowker assert core Object Relations principles, and bring with them a broader defence of Enlightenment values of individuality and progress – coming to terms with our faults and subjectivity will not help us achieve empathy, we need psychological integration and alignment with reality.