École de la Cause freudienne

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The École de la Cause freudienne (ECF) (English: School of the Freudian Cause) is a French psychoanalytic institution founded in 1981 by Jacques-Alain Miller, following the dissolution of Jacques Lacan’s École Freudienne de Paris (EFP) in 1980. It has since become the principal Lacanian psychoanalytic school in France and a key institution in the international Lacanian movement.

Dedicated to the rigorous study and transmission of Freud’s and Lacan’s work, the ECF emphasizes the formation of the analyst, the concept of the Pass, and the ethical implications of psychoanalytic practice. Closely linked to the World Association of Psychoanalysis (AMP), the ECF remains a central force in the ongoing elaboration of Lacanian theory in clinical, philosophical, and interdisciplinary contexts.

Historical Context

From the École Freudienne de Paris to the ECF

The ECF emerged directly from the institutional and theoretical collapse of the École Freudienne de Paris (EFP). The EFP, founded by Jacques Lacan in 1964, had been a pioneering but conflict-ridden organization that sought to reformulate psychoanalysis by returning to Freud through the lens of structuralism, linguistics, and topology.[1]

However, by the late 1970s, the EFP was embroiled in disputes over its internal governance, particularly the implementation of the Pass (la passe)—Lacan's controversial method of recognizing analysts based on subjective testimony rather than institutional criteria. Dissension, factionalism, and what many described as a drift toward Lacanian orthodoxy culminated in Lacan's decision to dissolve the EFP in January 1980.[2]

In the aftermath, Jacques-Alain Miller, Lacan’s student, son-in-law, and principal editor of his Séminaires, took up the task of continuing Lacan’s legacy. With Lacan’s implicit blessing, Miller founded the École de la Cause freudienne in 1981, positioning it as the heir to Lacan’s teachings and a renewal of the project to "return to Freud" in its Lacanian form.[3]

Founding Principles

The name École de la Cause freudienne reflects Lacan’s enduring emphasis on the Freudian Cause (la cause freudienne)—a term he used to signify the ongoing fidelity to Freud’s radical discoveries about the unconscious, desire, and subjectivity. The ECF's mission is to maintain psychoanalysis as a Freudian cause, beyond the confines of professional bureaucracy or medical regulation.[4]

In a foundational editorial of La Lettre mensuelle, Miller wrote:

"The ECF does not aim to provide a place of comfort, but a place where the Freudian cause can be worked through without compromise—where the desire of the analyst can be produced."[5]

Thus, the ECF was conceived not as a professional guild, but as a school in Lacan’s sense: a site for transmission, formation, and ethical commitment to the unconscious.

Institutional Structure

The School

The ECF, like its predecessor, is structured as a school, not a society or association. This structure aims to decenter hierarchical power, emphasize collective work, and enable a non-bureaucratic form of analytic formation. The central domains of the school include:

  • Formation of analysts
  • Theoretical and clinical research
  • Cartel work (collective small-group study)
  • The procedure of the Pass

The school’s administrative functioning is overseen by the École Council, and its orientation is guided by texts authored by Jacques Lacan and interpreted by Jacques-Alain Miller.

The Cartel System

The cartel, a concept introduced by Lacan in the EFP, remains central in the ECF. A cartel consists of 3 to 5 people plus one, who come together to study a particular psychoanalytic theme or concept. It is both a collective and individual undertaking, emphasizing autonomy and avoiding institutional stagnation.[6]

The Pass

The Pass procedure, formally implemented in the ECF, allows an analysand to testify to the transformation that occurred in their analysis. If recognized by the jury, the analysand becomes an Analyst of the School (AE), signifying not a certification but a demonstration of a singular traversal of the unconscious.[7]

The Pass is simultaneously a subjective and institutional gesture, balancing the tension between inner experience and public transmission. This maintains the ethical and epistemological orientation Lacan intended when he first proposed the Pass in 1967.[8]

Publications and Journals

The ECF maintains a robust network of publications to disseminate Lacanian thought, including:

  • La Lettre mensuelle – Founded in 1981, central to articulating the School’s activities and debates
  • La Cause freudienne – Biannual journal of theoretical and clinical work (est. 1992)
  • Scilicet – Publishes Pass testimonies
  • Mental – Interdisciplinary journal engaging psychoanalysis with other fields

Theoretical Orientation

Fidelity to Lacan and Freud

The ECF’s orientation is a rigorous reading of Freud through Lacan, guided by Miller’s editorial work on Lacan’s Seminars. Key themes include:

  • Unconscious structured like a language
  • Registers: Imaginary, Symbolic, and Real
  • Ethics of desire and analyst’s position
  • Jouissance, castration, and subjective division
  • Logic and topology in theory

This distinguishes the ECF from more classical or object-relations approaches like those of the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA).[9]

Clinical Work

In clinical terms, the ECF emphasizes the singularity of the subject. Diagnosis is used as a treatment compass rather than label, oriented by symptom formation, desire, and structure. Analysis aims at the traversal of fantasy and subjective destitution.[10]

International Influence and AMP

AMP: World Association of Psychoanalysis

In 1992, the ECF helped found the Association Mondiale de Psychanalyse (AMP), uniting affiliated schools including:

  • Spain (ELP)
  • Italy (SLP)
  • Latin America (NEL, EOL)
  • Belgium (NBP)
  • Brazil (EBP)
  • Canada/US (NLS)

This global Lacanian network has been coordinated by Jacques-Alain Miller as General Secretary.[11]

Conferences and Public Events

The ECF organizes regular conferences and study days on:

  • Gender and sexuality
  • Politics and populism
  • Psychosis and psychiatry
  • Contemporary symptoms and the Real

These events sustain the relevance of psychoanalysis in cultural and intellectual discourse.

Leadership and Key Figures

Key figures shaping the ECF include:

  • Jacques-Alain Miller – Founder, director, editor of Lacan’s Seminars
  • Éric Laurent – Analyst, philosopher, former AMP president
  • Colette Soler – Later founder of the EPFCL
  • Gérard Pommier, Pierre-Gilles Gueguen, Guy Briole – Clinicians and theorists

Criticism and Controversy

Criticisms of the ECF include:

  • Authoritarianism – Centrality of Miller critiqued
  • Doctrinal rigidity – Closedness to dissent noted
  • Insularity – Difficult access for non-French or non-Lacanian analysts

Defenders argue it is a living school continuing the radical edge of psychoanalysis.[12]

Legacy and Continuing Influence

The ECF has ensured the survival and development of Lacanian psychoanalysis post-Lacan. Its influence spans:

  • Philosophy – Alain Badiou, Slavoj Žižek
  • Political theory – Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe
  • Film/literary theory – Joan Copjec, Žižek
  • Gender/queer theory – Judith Butler, Tim Dean

The ECF continues as a training and research center engaged with contemporary subjectivity.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Élisabeth Roudinesco, Jacques Lacan, Columbia University Press, 1997.
  2. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. "Letter of Dissolution," in Television: A Challenge to the Psychoanalytic Establishment, W.W. Norton, 1990.
  3. ↑ Jacques-Alain Miller, "Letter of Foundation," La Lettre mensuelle, no. 1, 1981.
  4. ↑ Juliet Mitchell & Jacqueline Rose, Feminine Sexuality, Pantheon Books, 1982.
  5. ↑ Miller, J.-A., Editorial, La Lettre mensuelle, no. 1, 1981.
  6. ↑ Miller, J.-A., "Five Variations on the Theme of the Cartel," La Cause freudienne, no. 9, 1991.
  7. ↑ Scilicet (Publication of Pass Testimonies), Various Issues, Éditions ECF.
  8. ↑ Lacan, J., "Proposition du 9 octobre 1967 sur le psychanalyste de l’École," in Autres Écrits, Seuil, 2001.
  9. ↑ Bruce Fink, The Lacanian Subject: Between Language and Jouissance, Princeton University Press, 1995.
  10. ↑ Miller, J.-A., "Ordinary Psychosis," Psychoanalytical Notebooks, no. 12, 2004.
  11. ↑ AMP official site
  12. ↑ Dany Nobus & Malcolm Quinn, Knowing Nothing, Staying Stupid: Elements for a Psychoanalytic Epistemology, Routledge, 2005.
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