School
school (Ècole) When Lacan founded the …cole Freudienne de Paris (EFP)
in 1964, after his resignation from the SociÈtÈ FranÁaise de Psychanalyse
(SPP), he chose to call it a 'school' for precise reasons. Not only was it the
first time that a psychoanalytic organisation had been called a 'school' rather
than an 'association' or a 'society', but the term 'school' also highlighted the
fact that the EFP was more a means of psychoanalytic formation centred
around a doctrine than an institutional order centred around a group of
important people. Thus the very use of the term 'school' in the name of the
EFP indicated that it was an attempt to found a very different type of psycho-
analytic institution from those which had been founded before. Lacan was
particularly keen to avoid the dangers of the hierarchy dominating the institu-
tion, which he saw in the INTERNATIONAL PSYCHO-ANALYTICAL ASSOCIATION (IPA),
and which he blamed for the theoretical misunderstandings which had come to
dominate the IPA; the IPA had become, he argued, a kind of church (Sll, 4).
However, it is also important to note that Lacan's criticisms of the IPA do not
imply a criticism of the psychoanalytic institution per se; while Lacan is very
critical of the dangers that beset all psychoanalytic institutions, the fact that he
himself founded one is evidence that he thought that some kind of institutional
framework was necessary for psychoanalysts. Thus Lacan is just as sceptical of
those analysts who reject all institutions as he is of those who turn the
institution into a kind of church.
Many of Lacan's ideas cannot be understood without some understanding of
the history of the EFP (1964-80), especially those of Lacan's ideas which
relate to the Training of analysts. In this context it is important to note that the
EFP was not merely a training institute, and that membership was not
restricted to analysts/trainees, but was open to anyone with an interest in
psychoanalysis. All members had equal voting rights, which meant that the
EFP was the first truly democratic psychoanalytic organisation in history.
There were four categories of members in the EFP: M.E. (Membre de
l'Ecole, or simple member), A.P. (Analyste Practiquant), A.M.E. (Analyste
Membre de l'…cole), and A.E. (Analyste de l'…cole). Members could, and often
did, hold several titles simultaneously. Those who applied for membership of
the school were interviewed by a committee called the cardo (a word meaning
a hinge on which a door turns) before being admitted as an M.E.
Only the A.M.E. and the A.E. were recognised as analysts by the school,
although other members were not forbidden to conduct analyses, and could
award themselves the title of A.P. to indicate that they were practising
analysts. The title of A.M.E. was granted to members of the school who
satisfied a jury of senior members that they had conducted the analysis of
two patients in a satisfactory manner; in this sense, the category of A.M.E, was
similar to that of the titular members of other psychoanalytic societies. The
title of A.E, was awarded on the basis of a very different procedure, which
Lacan called the PAss. The pass was instituted by Lacan in 1967 as a means of
verifying the end of analysis, and constitutes the most original feature of the
EFP. Another original feature of the EFP was the promotion of research in
small study groups known aS CARTELS.
The final years of the EFP were dominated by intense controversy over the
pass and other issues (see Roudinesco, 1986). In 1980, Lacan dissolved the
EFP, and in 1981 he created a new institution in its stead, the …cole de la Cause
Freudienne (ECF). Some of the original members of the EFP followed Lacan
into the ECF, whereas others left to set up a variety of other groups. Some of
these groups still exist today, as does the ECF.