This book explores the significance of psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott's ideas for contemporary debates about care. Locating Winnicott in relation to a range of fields, including psychology, philosophy, sociology, critical theory and feminist theory, it examines the implications of his thinking for understanding and transforming the relationship between care and society. Winnicott was unique amongst psychoanalysts for the emphasis he placed on care in the development of subjectivity. The book unpacks Winnicott's understanding of care and assesses its relevance for conceptions of social responsibility, justice and transformation. In a world where care is in crisis, how might we theorise the conditions necessary for the development of caring subjectivities, and is it possible to infer a relationship between those conditions and progressive social change? This unique book will be of interest to readers in psychosocial studies, politics and anyone concerned with thinking about the relationship between care and social transformation.

Provides the first comprehensive critical account of Winnicottian ideas and their socio-political implications Critically examines the relationship between psychoanalysis, culture and society Highlights the dialectical character of the relationship between the psychic and the social

Autorentext

Dr Joanna Kellond is Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Science at the University of Brighton, UK, and a Founding Scholar of the British Psychoanalytic Council.

Inhalt

1. Introduction - Winnicott and the Politics of Care.- 2. Healthy Life: Care and Flourishing.- 3.Effacing Care, Denying Dependence.- 4. Caring for Others.- 5. Care, Power, Justice.- 6. Attacks on Holding.- 7. The Politics of Holding.