by Juliet Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2000
While only true believers will follow Mitchell in the orthodox canon of complexes, cathexes, and dream interpretations, her...
Psychoanalyst Mitchell makes a good case for the feminization of hysteria and its later decline and fall as a category of mental illness.
The famed French neurologist Charcot demonstrated the “hysterical” performances of male and female patients in his lectures at the end of the 19th century, thereby influencing Freud and colleagues in their understanding of Dora, Anna O, the Wolf Man, and other celebrated patients. The label “hysteria” described the neuroses—phobias, body ills, guilt, death wishes—that were assumed to be a result of actual parental sexual abuse in infancy (later revised to fantasized sexual abuse). It was described as a condition in which the individual is emptied of self and constantly seeks (through “seduction, tantrums, the grandiosity of telling lies, and the demands of ill health”) to recover “the love of our parents (or their substitutes) that we think has gone to our rival.” If that is so, how did hysteria become gendered, as it was in ancient Greece, in medieval times, and after WWI (when male hysteria became known as “shell shock”)? The answer Mitchell proposes is cultural—the inferior position of women in society dictates a greater susceptibility to hysteria. But she also addresses the classic psychoanalytic explanation (namely, that women have a harder time resolving the Oedipus complex). In any case, the exclusion of male hysteria after WWI and subsequent developments in psychoanalysis marginalized the concept of hysteria to the point of nonexistence. Mitchell revisits the literature and reanalyzes cases of Freud, Klein, and others (down to contemporary studies of individuals such as the poet Anne Sexton) to see the hysteria that is now called by other names. She also adds provocative interpretations of Don Giovanni and Iago as male hysterics.
While only true believers will follow Mitchell in the orthodox canon of complexes, cathexes, and dream interpretations, her arguments for reclaiming hysteria for both sexes are persuasive.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-465-04613-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
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edited by Ann Oakly & Juliet Mitchell
by Daniel Kahneman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2011
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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by Erin Meyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 27, 2014
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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