Political philosopher Noelle McAfee proposes a powerful new
political theory for our post-9/11 world, in which an old
pathology-the repetition compulsion-has manifested itself in a
seemingly endless war on terror. McAfee argues that the
quintessentially human desire to participate in a world with others
is the key to understanding the public sphere and to creating a
more democratic society, a world that all members can have a hand
in shaping. But when some are effectively denied this
participation, whether through trauma or terror, instead of
democratic politics, there arises a political unconscious, an
effect of desires unarticulated, failures to sublimate, voices kept
silent, and repression reenacted. Not only is this condition
undemocratic and unjust, it may lead to further trauma. Unless its
troubles are worked through, a political community risks continual
repetition and even self-destruction.
McAfee deftly weaves together her experience as an observer of
democratic life with an array of intellectual schemas, from
poststructural psychoanalysis to Rawlsian and Habermasian
democratic theories, as well as semiotics, civic republicanism, and
American pragmatism. She begins with an analysis of the traumatic
effects of silencing members of a political community. Then she
explores the potential of deliberative dialogue and other "talking
cures" and public testimonies, such as the South African Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, to help societies work through, rather
than continually act out, their conflicts.
"Democracy and the Political Unconscious" is rich in
theoretical insights, but it is also grounded in the practical
problems of those who are trying to process the traumas of
oppression, terror, and brutality and create more decent and
democratic societies. Drawing on a breathtaking range of
theoretical frameworks and empirical observations, "Democracy and
the Political Unconscious" charts a course for democratic
transformation in a world sorely lacking in democratic
practice.
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