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2023 Annual Conference – Call for Proposals

INTERNATIONAL PSYCHOHISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
46th ANNUAL CONFERENCE
MAY 18-20, 2023
VIRTUALLY ON ZOOM

WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?
PSYCHOHISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON A WORLD ON THE EDGE

SUBTHEMES: PSYCHOHISTORICAL INSIGHTS ON

• CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DENIAL
• WARS, GEOPOLITICAL CONFLICT, AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL CRISES
• RESURGENT TRIBALISM: BACKLASH TO NEOLIBERAL GLOBALIZATION
• GENDER, RACE, AND IDEOLOGIES OF DOMINATION
• PSYCHOANALYSIS AND HEALING

STEVEN PINKER (KEYNOTE)

Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; author of The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined and Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.

Presentation Title (Tentative): Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.

SALLY WEINTROBE (FEATURED SPEAKER)

Chair, International Psychoanalytic Association’s Committee on Climate; author of Psychological Roots of the Climate Crisis: Neoliberal Exceptionalism and the Culture of Uncare.

Presentation Title: Psychological Roots of the Climate Crisis.

JAMES W. ANDERSON (FEATURED SPEAKER)

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University; author of Psychobiography: In Search of the Inner Life (forthcoming).

Presentation Title: Animosity, Affection, Agony, and Empathy: Elements in Psychobiographers’ Relationships with the People They Study.

WHAT IS “A WORLD ON THE EDGE”?

With record breaking temperatures, wildfires, and extreme weather events, it is now clear that humanity faces a climate emergency and Sixth Extinction that threaten both human civilization and our planet’s biodiversity. Yet an entire political party in the United States and similar parties in other countries exhibit a psychology of denial about the urgency of the threat and its human causes. Other global aspects of our “Anthropocene epoch” encompass what some call a New Cold War, pandemics, and an acceleration of technological change including artificial intelligence.

All this is occurring in the context of an international political-economic system that puts profits before the needs of ordinary people, fueling a populist backlash to globalization. In its right-wing variants, this includes  toxic racial and gender dynamics; authoritarian politics and religion; and other forms of tribalism.

Where do we begin in responding effectively to these myriad challenges?  In this conference we tap the full range of psychoanalytic and psychohistorical resources as a basis for understanding and healing. Topics include:

  • group psychology and analysis of the ego in a time of globalization;
  • intergenerational transmission of trauma and resilience;
  • psychoanalysis and the turmoil of our times—can structure hold, and should it?
  • childhood and its history, psychobiography, and the methodology of psychohistory;
  • the healing potential of music, and others.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Presentation or panel proposals on the above theme and subthemes or any other psychohistorical topics are welcome.

Proposals consist of (a) presenter(s) name(s) and professional title(s); (b) type of presentation (individual or panel); (c) one paragraph abstract; (d) one paragraph professional bio; and, (e) three peer-reviewed citations (by yourself or others) supporting your research.

Submit your proposal(s) no later than January 15th, 2023 via the following form:

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You also can reach out to Dr. Brigitte Demeure at for any clarifications or/and questions related to your presentation proposal(s).

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