Jacques Lacan and American Sociology: Be Wary of the Image (The Palgrave Lacan Series)

""In Jacques Lacan and Early American Sociology, Duane Rousselle deftly interrogates how the thought of Jacques Lacan can illuminate and remedy some shortcomings of the early American sociologists and especially those influenced by the pragmatism of William James, John Dewey, and Charles Peirce. Rousselle's book is a unique, insightful exploration not just of what Lacanian theory can do, but also of the resonances and impasses between psychoanalysis and sociology more generally. This is an exciting contribution to a growing literature in Psychosocial Studies." --John Andrews, Visiting Scholar at New York University, USA, and co-editor of The Unhappy Divorce of Sociology and Psychoanalysis In this Palgrave Pivot, Duane Rousselle aims to disrupt the hold that pragmatist ideology has had over American sociology by demonstrating that the social bond has always been founded upon a fundamental and primordial bankruptcy. Using the Lacanian theory of "capitalist discourse," Rousselle demonstrates that most of early American sociology suffered from an inadequate account of the "symbolic" within the mental and social lives of the individual subject. The psychoanalytic aspect of the social bond remained theoretically undeveloped in the American context. Instead it is the "image," a product of the imaginary, which takes charge over any symbolic function. This intervention into pragmatic sociology seeks to recover the tradition of "grand theory" by bringing psychoanalytical and sociological discourse into fruitful communication with one another." -- Prové de l'editor Contents 6 List of Figures 8 List of Tables 9 Chapter 1 Be Wary 10 Abstract 10 References 17 Chapter 2 On Names 19 Abstract 19 Freud’s Proper Name 19 From Proper Name to Name as Prop 24 References 29 Chapter 3 Perverse America 31 Abstract 31 American Wisdom 31 Perverse Discourse and Capitalism 38 References 46 Chapter 4 Early American Sociology 48 Abstract 48 George Herbert Mead 48 Charles Horton Cooley and Erving Goffman 59 References 65 Chapter 5 On Strangers 67 Abstract 67 Two Strangers 67 Georg Simmel 70 Ibn Khaldun 76 References 80 Chapter 6 Ways Forward 82 Abstract 82 Alain Badiou’s Choice 82 Parsing Talcott Parsons 88 References 95 Index 98 Front Matter ....Pages i-ix Be Wary (Duane Rousselle)....Pages 1-9 On Names (Duane Rousselle)....Pages 11-22 Perverse America (Duane Rousselle)....Pages 23-39 Early American Sociology (Duane Rousselle)....Pages 41-59 On Strangers (Duane Rousselle)....Pages 61-75 Ways Forward (Duane Rousselle)....Pages 77-92 Back Matter ....Pages 93-97