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Voluntary Servitude. Masochism and Morality

Author(s) : Judith Le Soldat, Editor : Andjela Samardzic, Editor : Vaia Tsolas, Editor : Michael Civin

Reviews and Endorsements

In her brilliant monograph, Judith Le Soldat investigates and clearly distinguishes the clinical phenomena of individual masochism as well as the symptoms of socially produced masochism. In her lucid and profound analysis, she reveals the destinies of the individual’s inner drive-defence dynamics, but also traces different mechanisms of interplay between sociopolitical power and individual psyche. This masterpiece is an indispensable contribution to the psychoanalytic investigation of the intermediate realm (Zwischenreich) that connects the individual and society.
Markus Fäh, Ph.D., Zurich (Switzerland), Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna and Berlin

With impressive acumen, Le Soldat’s Voluntary Servitude, Masochism and Morality lays bare the intricacies of psyche and society as both reflect the Triebhaftigkeit (pulsionality) of the unconscious and its ever-robust survival in disguise of voluntary servitude. The death drive - an axiom of life, alongside Eros, doesn’t stay immune against social amnesia as it partakes in bolstering voluntary servitude. In dialog with Freud, La Boétie and Adorno the author raises fundamental questions on foundations of human cruelty, warfare, capitalism, populism, Nazism – uncannily reverberating from therapist’s consulting rooms to global crises. Intriguing and captivating - this book stands out as an absolute imperative in today’s psychoanalytic and sociopolitical discourse.
Elisabeth Geiger und Dr. Christoph Kappeler, analysts in their own practice, trained by Judith Le Soldat from the beginning of her career until 2008; both are faculty at Psychoanalytic Seminar Zürich