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

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.

FULL PROGRAM AS OF 3 MARCH (All times are Eastern Daylight Time)
Click on Title to view Abstract and Short Bio (if available)

For questions about the conference, please contact Brigitte Demeure @ brigittedemeure@wanadoo.fr or Inna Rozentsvit at