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9781800131279

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‘Michael Diamond presents a profound interdisciplinary understanding of the disturbing and dangerous psychic ruptures that currently exist on both the individual and group level not just in America but around the world. He shows how existential anxiety underlies a vulnerability to malignant leadership and is intensified by the perfect storm of physical threat, socioeconomic inequity, climate crisis, and growing individual and large-group violence. Diamond argues for the combined containing power of psychoanalytic understanding and social institutions to remedy the threatened loss of humanity in today’s post-truth world. A diverse readership of psychoanalysts, social scientists, politicians, and concerned citizens will enjoy his generous cross-disciplinary glossary of terms.’ -- Harriet Wolfe, M.D., President, International Psychoanalytical Association ‘Michael J. Diamond reminds us that despite Donald Trump’s loss of the 2020 election, the cult of Trumpism continues in the United States. In 2021, Trump was banned from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. In February 2022, Trump’s social-media platform, Truth Social, was launched. Psychoanalytic understanding of large-group regression, destructive populism, authoritarianism, malignant narcissism, paranoia, and other related situations becomes not only important but a needed element in examining ruptures in the American psyche. The author’s review of psychoanalytic approaches to the understanding of unconscious group dynamics and leader–follower relationships is very rich. The author also reminds the reader that psychoanalytic findings are beneficial when they are synthetized with discoveries from other professions, such as political science, history, and sociology. This book will inform the reader of not only what is happening in the United States but also events worldwide.’ -- Vamık Volkan, MD, DLFAPA, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Virginia; Founder and President Emeritus of International Dialogue Initiative; author of Enemies on the Couch: A Psychopolitical Journey Through War and Peace ‘The publication of this book could not be more timely. It comes at a time that is as difficult as it is crucial for humanity, with the Covid-19 pandemic now joined by a war. While it is an in-depth analysis of the sociopolitical circumstances in the United States, the psychoanalytic insight it provides gets to the heart of a chronic and enduring global problem: the destructiveness of the human species and the high cost of its denial. Although the book was written before the war began, it is proof positive that psychoanalysis has much to contribute to the effort  to understand this lethal component of human nature that endures and persists. Michael Diamond shows us in his excellent and insightful essay how psychoanalysts can use our experience and knowledge of mental functioning in terms of impulses, notions of group mentality, conspiracy theories, and malignant leadership in trying to understand the persistence of these modes of functioning in our society. It is an ethical position to make our voice heard at times when impulses of violence, xenophobia, and destruction predominate. In this commitment lies not only the permanence but also the expansion of psychoanalysis.’ -- Virginia Ungar, M.D., former President, International Psychoanalytical Association; Training Analyst, Buenos Aires Psychoanalytic Association ‘Michael Diamond, well known in the psychoanalytic world for his many brilliant papers, brings his deep psychoanalytic understanding of a growing sociopolitical problem that threatens democracy throughout the world. Diamond has accomplished a remarkable feat by bringing in a vast amount of data from the social sciences and integrating it with a wide variety of psychoanalytic perspectives. This is an important book for anyone concerned about the state of our global politics and will reward those interested in how psychoanalytic insights can better help us understand this crucial time.’ -- Fred Busch, Ph.D., Training and Supervising Analyst, Boston Psychoanalytic Institute; author of A Fresh Look at Psychoanalysis ‘With a remarkably broad scholarship, consistently interdisciplinary vision, and a truly concerned heart, Michael Diamond offers us fresh insights into the deeply polarized political scene in today’s United States. He links his psychopolitical perspective to the psychoanalytic notions of group regression, malignant narcissism, and projective identification without losing anchor in the social anthropology of manufactured truths and the lure of fundamentalism. In both his “diagnostic” understanding and “therapeutic” recommendations to what he calls “a society in peril,” Diamond strikes us as compassionate, theoretically anchored, and generous of spirit. The addition of a glossary of the terms used in this book and a comprehensive bibliography further enhances the value of the author’s contribution. This is applied psychoanalysis at its best!’ -- Salman Akhtar, M.D., Training and Supervising Analyst, Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia; author of many books, including Mind, Culture, and Global Unrest and Tales of Transformation

'Michael Diamond presents a profound interdisciplinary understanding of the disturbing and dangerous psychic ruptures that currently exist on both the individual and group level not just in America but around the world. He shows how existential anxiety underlies a vulnerability to malignant leadership and is intensified by the perfect storm of physical threat, socioeconomic inequity, climate crisis, and growing individual and large-group violence. Diamond argues for the combined containing power of psychoanalytic understanding and social institutions to remedy the threatened loss of humanity in today's post-truth world. A diverse readership of psychoanalysts, social scientists, politicians, and concerned citizens will enjoy his generous cross-disciplinary glossary of terms.' -- Harriet Wolfe, M.D., President, International Psychoanalytical Association 'Michael J. Diamond reminds us that despite Donald Trump's loss of the 2020 election, the cult of Trumpism continues in the United States. In 2021, Trump was banned from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. In February 2022, Trump's social-media platform, Truth Social, was launched. Psychoanalytic understanding of large-group regression, destructive populism, authoritarianism, malignant narcissism, paranoia, and other related situations becomes not only important but a needed element in examining ruptures in the American psyche. The author's review of psychoanalytic approaches to the understanding of unconscious group dynamics and leader-follower relationships is very rich. The author also reminds the reader that psychoanalytic findings are beneficial when they are synthetized with discoveries from other professions, such as political science, history, and sociology. This book will inform the reader of not only what is happening in the United States but also events worldwide.' -- Vamik Volkan, MD, DLFAPA, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Virginia; Founder and President Emeritus of International Dialogue Initiative; author of Enemies on the Couch: A Psychopolitical Journey Through War and Peace 'The publication of this book could not be more timely. It comes at a time that is as difficult as it is crucial for humanity, with the Covid-19 pandemic now joined by a war. While it is an in-depth analysis of the sociopolitical circumstances in the United States, the psychoanalytic insight it provides gets to the heart of a chronic and enduring global problem: the destructiveness of the human species and the high cost of its denial. Although the book was written before the war began, it is proof positive that psychoanalysis has much to contribute to the effort to understand this lethal component of human nature that endures and persists. Michael Diamond shows us in his excellent and insightful essay how psychoanalysts can use our experience and knowledge of mental functioning in terms of impulses, notions of group mentality, conspiracy theories, and malignant leadership in trying to understand the persistence of these modes of functioning in our society. It is an ethical position to make our voice heard at times when impulses of violence, xenophobia, and destruction predominate. In this commitment lies not only the permanence but also the expansion of psychoanalysis.' -- Virginia Ungar, M.D., former President, International Psychoanalytical Association; Training Analyst, Buenos Aires Psychoanalytic Association 'Michael Diamond, well known in the psychoanalytic world for his many brilliant papers, brings his deep psychoanalytic understanding of a growing sociopolitical problem that threatens democracy throughout the world. Diamond has accomplished a remarkable feat by bringing in a vast amount of data from the social sciences and integrating it with a wide variety of psychoanalytic perspectives. This is an important book for anyone concerned about the state of our global politics and will reward those interested in how psychoanalytic insights can better help us understand this crucial time.' -- Fred Busch, Ph.D., Training and Supervising Analyst, Boston Psychoanalytic Institute; author of A Fresh Look at Psychoanalysis 'With a remarkably broad scholarship, consistently interdisciplinary vision, and a truly concerned heart, Michael Diamond offers us fresh insights into the deeply polarized political scene in today's United States. He links his psychopolitical perspective to the psychoanalytic notions of group regression, malignant narcissism, and projective identification without losing anchor in the social anthropology of manufactured truths and the lure of fundamentalism. In both his diagnostic understanding and therapeutic recommendations to what he calls a society in peril, Diamond strikes us as compassionate, theoretically anchored, and generous of spirit. The addition of a glossary of the terms used in this book and a comprehensive bibliography further enhances the value of the author's contribution. This is applied psychoanalysis at its best!' -- Salman Akhtar, M.D., Training and Supervising Analyst, Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia; author of many books, including Mind, Culture, and Global Unrest and Tales of Transformation

Author Information

Michael Diamond, PhD, FIPA, is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies. He is a Fellow of the International Psychoanalytical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Clinical Psychology.  He has published over one hundred journal articles and book chapters as well as four books across wide-ranging topics, including psychoanalytic technique and analytic mindedness; trauma and dissociation; masculinity, femininity, and gender theory; fathering and the paternal function; hypnosis and altered states; and group processes and social action. He is well known for national and international presentations and is the honored recipient of numerous awards for his teaching, writing, and clinical contributions. His four previous books are: Masculinity and Its Discontents: The Male Psyche and the Inherent Tensions of Maturing Manhood (Routledge 2021), The Second Century of Psychoanalysis: Evolving Perspectives on Therapeutic Action (Karnac 2011), My Father Before Me: How Fathers and Sons Influence Each Other Throughout Their Lives (Norton 2007), and Becoming a Father: Contemporary Social, Developmental, and Clinical Perspectives (Springer 1995). Several of his publications have been translated into other languages, including German, Portuguese, Korean, Arabic, Mandarin, and French. He has a full-time clinical practice in Los Angeles, California, where is also active in teaching, supervising, and writing.  

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