The Birth of a Political Self: The Jean-Max Gaudilliere Seminars 2001-2014

About the Author(s)

Jean-Max Gaudilliere studied classical literature at the Ecole normale superieure (ENS) in Paris before becoming a psychoanalyst. He was a professor at the Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales (EHESS) and was a member of the Center for the Study of Social Movements (CSSM), founded by Alain Touraine, research director at the EHESS. In the weekly seminar called "Madness and the Social Link," held for forty years at the EHESS, Gaudilliere combined his clinical work with the exploration of literary works dealing with the madness of war. The focus of his clinical work was the impact of historical catastrophes on personal lives. He is the co-author of two books written with Francoise Davoine: History Beyond Trauma and A Word to the Wise.

Françoise Davoine obtained an Agregation in classics (French literature, Latin and Greek) in 1966, followed by a doctorate in sociology in 1981, before becoming a psychoanalyst. She worked for thirty years as a psychoanalyst in public psychiatric hospitals in France, and as an external consultant and is currently in private practice. She was a Professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Movements, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris, where she and Jean-Max Gaudillière conducted a weekly seminar on 'Madness and the Social Link'. She has also made numerous presentations at the Austen Riggs Center in Massachusetts (USA), as well as elsewhere in the US, in England, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Switzerland. Dr Davoine is the author of many articles and books, including La Folie Wittgenstein, Mother Folly, and History Beyond Trauma (with Jean Max Gaudillière).

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