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Dark Times: Politics, History and Mourning – a Psychoanalytic Perspective
February 2, 2019 @ 10:30 am - 1:00 pm
A workshop with Dr Jonathan Sklar, Psychoanalyst, author and historian, who will be free-associating with the audience around his recently published book of the same name.
Today sees the rise of nationalism, the return of totalitarian parties in Europe to electoral success, and the rise of the alt-right and white supremacists in the US. Jonathan Sklar brings his understanding of cruelty, sadomasochism, perversion, and other mental mechanisms to shine a light on what has led to this. Unlike most current news outlets, Sklar goes against the grain of brief sound bites, which are an aid to pass quickly over painful knowledge. Instead, he goes into detail to give respect and understanding to extremely dark occurrences, and the human beings affected. Listening to these stories enables us to become more aware. By ridding ourselves of the illusions about our political times, we can find greater freedom to think, develop, challenge, and create hope, for the future of our children and our grandchildren, as well as for ourselves.
Who’s it for?
People working with marginalised communities; students and teachers (professional and amateur) of philosophy, politics, history, law, psychiatry, psychology, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, counselling; political activists – in fact anyone interested in the human mind and its relation to the state of the world.
Buy Tickets £10 (students and unwaged) – £30 HERE
Who is the Speaker?
Jonathan Sklar is an Independent training analyst and fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society; he’s worked in private practice for over thirty five years. He trained as a psychiatrist at the Royal Free and Friern hospitals, later training in psychotherapy at the Tavistock Clinic and in psychoanalysis at the Institute of Psychoanalysis. He spent a dozen years as a consultant psychotherapist and Head of Department at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge.
He’s recently published the book around which the workshop is based: you can buy it here.
He teaches and supervises at the Institute of Psychoanalysis where he regularly has a course on Ferenczi . For ten years he convened a psychoanalytic conference in Cape Town and taught in Chicago termly for a decade,He has lectured widely in Eastern Europe and beyond.
He has been Vice President of the European Psychoanalytic Federation and is currently on the board of the IPA.
He has numerous psychoanalytic papers published and is the author of “Landscapes of the Dark: History, Trauma, Psychoanalysis”, “Balint Matters: Psychosomatics and the Art of Assessment” .
Buy Tickets HERE
What People have said about his book:
“Not having a background in psychoanalysis I wasn’t sure how accessible this book would be but Sklar’s coruscating prose provide explanations without being patronising.
The subject matter means that it’s not an easy read, nor should it be – the chapter on the Yazidi is particularly difficult – but given the times we live in its a well judged warning to humanity.” – Reviewer of the book at Amazon
‘Lucid, powerful, intelligent, and deeply relevant for the days of our times: a vastly thoughtful and important book.’ – Philippe Sands, Professor of Law at University College London, author of East West Street
“Dark Times is a timely, thought-provoking, and, at times, upsetting work that is a must-read for all those looking for a deeper understanding of today’s world.” – Samir Gandesha, Associate Professor of Humanities and Director of the Institute for the Humanities at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada
Buy Tickets HERE
