Eli Zaretsky
| Eli Zaretsky | |
|---|---|
| Organization details | |
| Type | Historian and Professor |
| Orientation | Social and Cultural History of Psychoanalysis |
| Institutional context | |
| Affiliation | The New School |
| Operations | |
| Headquarters | New York City, United States |
| Geographic scope | Academic |
| Publications | Political Freud: A History; Secrets of the Soul |
Eli Zaretsky is an American historian and professor at The New School whose work focuses on the social, cultural, and political dimensions of psychoanalysis. He is best known for his books Political Freud: A History (2015) and Secrets of the Soul: A Social and Cultural History of Psychoanalysis (2004), which examine psychoanalysis's intersections with modernity, politics, and social movements.[1][2]
Zaretsky's scholarship traces psychoanalysis from its Freudian origins through its engagements with war, feminism, the New Left, and capitalism, emphasizing concepts like human vulnerability and the ego's role in navigating personal and political life.[3]
History
Zaretsky's interest in psychoanalysis began in adolescence, influenced by Freud's cultural prominence akin to figures like Dostoyevsky.[4] In the 1960s, thinkers like Herbert Marcuse linked it to student movements, reigniting his engagement.[4]
His academic path shifted in the 1970s from history to psychological programs amid limited academic jobs, leading to works on capitalism's impact on family and personal life.[5][4] He later focused on psychoanalysis's historical trajectory.
Academic Career
Zaretsky teaches at The New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts in New York City.[1][6] He has held positions in psychological programs, including in San Francisco during the 1970s.[5]
Key Concepts / Theoretical Orientation
Zaretsky highlights psychoanalysis's core idea of prolonged human infancy and persistent dependency, evolving into studies of vulnerability in contexts like war and ego formation.[3] He critiques ego psychology's conformism and its dilution by intersubjective theories, advocating Freud's ego as capable of reality-testing and self-observation.[2][3]
His work integrates psychoanalysis into modern social history, addressing its subversive potential against domination and its vulgarization in popular forms.[2]
Publications
- Political Freud: A History (Cambridge University Press, 2015)[1][2]
- Secrets of the Soul: A Social and Cultural History of Psychoanalysis (2004)[1]
- Capitalism, the Family, and Personal Life (1986)[4]
- Editor, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America: A Classic Work in Immigration History (1995)[1]
- Why America Needs a Left[1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Eli Zaretsky". Retrieved 2026-01-31.
{{cite web}}: Text "Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts - The New School" ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Eli Zaretsky, Political Freud: A History". Logos Journal. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Political Freud: an interview with Eli Zaretsky". History Workshop. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Interview with Eli Zaretsky". fehe.org. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Eli Zaretsky Interviewed on Jewish Thought and Psychoanalysis". Public Seminar. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- ↑ "Eli Zaretsky". Retrieved 2026-01-31.
{{cite web}}: Text "The New School for Social Research" ignored (help)