Introduction

The video was made on the  8th February 2023, 7.30pm – 9.00pm as a part of the Manchester Psychoanalytic Matrix, Psychoanalysis and Political Action. It took place at University of Manchester Students’ Union Room 2.3 where Alicia Valdés of Carlos III University and Universitat de Barcelona shared her thoughts relating to Feminist Lacanian psychoanalytic theory.

This public event was chaired by Artemis Christinaki who explored the links between psychoanalysis and political action, including anti-racist and feminist work. The event included contributions by people involved in anti-capitalist politics and the Red Clinic.  Alicia Valdés, is author of the book ‘Toward a Feminist Lacanian Left: Psychoanalytic Theory and Intersectional Politics’ published by Routledge.

Toward a Feminist Lacanian Left. Psychoanalytical Theory and Intersectional Politics

This book challenges traditional feminist perspectives by exploring a broader understanding of antagonism, beyond just sex and gender. It examines the concept of sexual position in Lacanian psychoanalysis to question the ideas of political conflict and the people involved. It asks if Lacan’s work can provide new insights for feminist politics and proposes a theoretical framework for intersectional political theory.

The first part of the book explains this framework, while the second part applies it to how women’s identities are formed in European politics and the economy. The book concludes with suggestions for feminist political and economic action through community currencies and municipalism.

This interdisciplinary book will appeal to scholars interested in psychoanalysis, feminism, political philosophy, discourse theory, sexuality and gender studies, cultural studies, queer theory, and continental philosophy. It is also useful for master’s and PhD students looking for an introduction to Lacanian psychoanalysis, discourse, and gender from a feminist perspective.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Toward a Feminist Lacanian Left

1. Reality as a Discursive Operation

2. The Topology of Reality

3. A Lacanian Theory of Discursive Ontology

4. Traversing Fantasy

5. Towards a Topology of Reality

6. The Void: Ciphering the Real as Reality

Part 2: Some Notes for a Genealogy of Sexuation

7. The Sexuation of the Ontological Level

8. The Masculine Hegemony of Reality

9. Ciphering the Feminine

aliciavaldes.info

Bibliography of References:

Alemán, J. (2019). Capitalismo: Crimen perfecto o emancipación. Ned Ediciones.

Bordo, S. (1986). The Cartesian Masculinization of Thought. Signs, 11(3), 439-456.

Brennan, T. (Ed.). (1989). Between Feminism & Psychoanalysis. Routledge.

Brown, W. (1995). States of injury: Power and freedom in late modernity. Princeton University Press.

Butler, J. (2004). Precarious life: The powers of mourning and violence. Verso.

Butler, J. (2009). Frames of war: When is life grievable? Verso.

Crenshaw, K. (1994). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence

Against Women of Color. En M. Albertson Fineman, & R. Mykitiuk (Eds.), The Public Nature of Private Violence (pp. 93-118). Routledge.

Crenshaw, K. W. (2006). Intersectionality, Identity Politics and Violence Against Women of Color. Kvinder, Køn & Forskning, 2-3. https://doi.org/10.7146/kkf.v0i2-3.28090

Fishel, S. R., Fletcher, A., Krishna, S., McKnight, U., du Plessis, G., Shomura, C., Valdés, A., & Voelkner, N. (2021). Politics in the Time of COVID. Contemporary Political Theory. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-021-00500-1

McNay, L. (2010). Feminism and Post-Identity Politics: The Problem of Agency. Constellations, 17(4), 512-525. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8675.2010.00611.x

Ottaviano, M. L. (2019). Mujeres: Sujetas políticas en la izquierda lacaniana. #lacanemancipa.

https://lacaneman.hypotheses.org/233

Parker, I., & Pavón Cuéllar, D. (2021). Psychoanalysis and revolution: Critical psychology for liberation movements. 1968 Press.

Preciado, P. B. (2022). Dysphoria mundi: El sonido del mundo derrumbándose (Primera edición). Anagrama.

Sánchez Perera, P. (2022). Crítica de la razón puta: Cartografías del estigma de la prostitución. La Oveja Roja.

Stavrakakis, Y. (1999). Lacan and the Political. Routledge.

Valdés, A. (2022). Toward a Feminist Lacanian Left: Psychoanalytic Theory and Intersectional Politics. Taylor & Francis Limited.