12 - Reflections on Psychoanalysis and Class

Summary

Psychoanalysis is one of the central interpretative frameworks of modern Western cultures, but there is a widely-held view that it is has little, if anything, to say about class and class difference. This chapter challenges that view by creating a dialogue between the psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott and the contemporary British film-maker Andrea Arnold. It is central to my argument that, to explore the conjuncture between psychoanalysis and class, we need a provocative encounter between psychoanalysis and creative and critical works engaged by the living facts of material and symbolic disadvantage. Arnold’s short film Wasp and Winnicott’s writings on creativity and mothering are used to open up the space for thinking between psychoanalysis, class and contemporary culture.