Difference between revisions of "Cartel"

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By organising research work around a small-scale unit like the [[cartel]], [[Lacan]] hoped to avoid the effects of massification which he regarded as partly to blame for the sterility of the [[International Psychoanalytical Association]] (IPA).
 
By organising research work around a small-scale unit like the [[cartel]], [[Lacan]] hoped to avoid the effects of massification which he regarded as partly to blame for the sterility of the [[International Psychoanalytical Association]] (IPA).
 +
 +
==Miscellaneous==
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the cartel describes the working device that is the basic unit of the Schools
 +
 +
The cartel
 +
 +
What is a cartel?
 +
The cartel is an original working device, proposed by Lacan for those who practice psychoanalysis as well as for anyone who wishes to study it. This Lacanian invention takes into account the effects of the group, and aims, by its structure and its functioning, at limiting these as much as possible.
 +
 +
Four choose each other to work
 +
Those forming a cartel choose each other with a joint project of work. In 1980, Lacan specified that the members of a cartel should be four in number, this being the number of reference in most cartels at present. The meetings are held at a rhythm decided by its members, who are called "cartel members".
 +
 +
The ‘plus one’
 +
Chosen by the cartel members, the "plus one" is the person in charge of the selection, discussion and destination of the work of each member. This role is crucial for tactfully supporting the work of each member, handling critical moments and maintaining the distance between knowledge and truth. The "plus one" is also a link with the School, since it favors the exposition of the product of the cartel's work.
 +
 +
The theme of work
 +
The creation of a cartel is the occasion for each member to choose a theme or ‘trait’ of work: reading of a seminar, elaboration of a concept or a case, exploring the connections of psychoanalysis to other fields, etc. A common theme is added to the ‘trait’ of each member, which in turn gives the title to the cartel, under which it can be declared to the School.
 +
 +
The product of each member
 +
The work carried out does not give rise to the collective product of a knowledge that implies the acceptance of the group. It is up to each one, according to the moment of his or her relation to psychoanalysis, to verify what might have been modified in his or her relation with analytic knowledge.
 +
 +
The exposition of work
 +
The products of a cartel may be exposed at the study days of the cartels, which are the occasion for the work of the cartel to be made public. Some of these works can also be made available in the different publications of the Freudian Field.
 +
 +
Permutation
 +
The cartel lasts for no more than one or two years. After this period it is dissolved. This necessary conclusion helps to avoid the inertia evident in work groups that are never ending, which becomes an obstacle to the acquisition of new knowledge for the subject.
 +
 +
In the Founding Act of June 21, 1964, Jacques Lacan introduced the cartel for the first time in the following way:
 +
"Those who enter this School will undertake to fulfil a task that is subject to both internal and external supervision. In exchange they are assured that nothing will be spared in order that anything valuable they do gets the attention it deserves and in the appropriate place.
 +
To carry out this work we shall adopt the principle of sustained elaboration in small groups. Each group (we have a name
 +
to designate them) will be composed of at least three people, five a most, four is the right balance. Plus One responsible for the selection, the discussion and the outcome to be accorded to the work of each.
 +
After a certain period of functioning the elements of the group will find themselves invited to permutate into another group."
 +
 +
Some years later, in his seminar of March 11, 1980, D’écolage of the School, Lacan adds certain further precisions to the device of the cartel:
 +
"(…) I launch without delay the Freudian Cause and I restore in its favor the basic unit taken from the foundation of the School, that is to say, the cartel, whose formalization I refine, taking into experience into account.
 +
First – Four are chosen to pursue a work that must bear a product. I make it clear: a product of each member, not collectively.
 +
Second - The conjunction of the four is effected around a Plus One, who, although it may be anybody, must be
 +
somebody. He or she is charged with watching over the internal effects of the enterprise and of producing its elaboration.
 +
Third – To avoid the effect of gluing together, it must give rise to permutation in the fixed term of a year, two at most.
 +
Four – No progress is to be expected, except that of opening up, periodically, both the results as well as the critical moments of the work.
 +
Five – Drawing by lots will ensure the regular renewal of the reference points created with the aim of vectorizing the group"
 +
 +
The cartel today
 +
The accumulated practice since the invention of this institutional device has proved its fertility in the reading of reference texts, in the study of fundamental concepts and in the ongoing investigation of psychoanalysis. It is therefore an instrument of analytic formation and a basic unit of the Freudian Cause.
 +
In 1994, Jacques-Alain Millar – concerned with a certain routine affecting the functioning of this device in some of the schools of the WAP – produced a series of reflections calling for a return to the essentials of the "Lacanian plan". These can be found in two texts: The cartel in the world and The inverse of the School:
 +
"(…) the ethical and epistemological demand that Lacan gave voice to is supposed to be accomplished in a work, which is the work of the School, and this work is carried out by the cartel (…)"
 +
"(…) in Lacan’s intention, the work of the School (…) passed by way of the cartel. By way of the cartel, that is to say: not by way of the seminars, courses, conferences or debates. Nothing like that: the cartel"
 +
 +
J.-A. Miller also added his voice and, as a matter of fact, the cartel is not only in use at present, but it is also on the basis of this device that several schools are now working towards the IVth Congress of the WAP.
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==
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* [[International Psychoanalytical Association]]
 
* [[International Psychoanalytical Association]]
  
 +
==External links== [http://www.wapol.org/en/lasescuelas/lasescuelas.asp?elcartel.html World Association of Psychoanalysis]
  
 
==References==
 
==References==

Revision as of 15:28, 26 June 2006

The cartel is the, basic working unit on which Lacan based his school of psychoanalysis, the Ecole Freudienne de Psychanalyse (EFP).

Most Lacanian associations continue to organise work in cartels today.

The cartel is essentially a study group consisting of three to five people (though Lacan considers four the optimum number), plus a supervisor (known as a 'plus-one'; Fr. plus-un) who moderates the group's work.

A cartel is created when a group of people decide to work together on a particular aspect of psychoanalytic theory which is of interest to them, and it is then registered in the school's list of cartels.

Although participation in cartels plays an important part in the training (formation) of Lacanian analysts, membership of cartels is not restricted to members of the school.

Indeed, Lacan welcomed the exchange of ideas between analysts and those from other disciplines, and saw the cartel as one structure which would serve to encourage this exchange.

By organising research work around a small-scale unit like the cartel, Lacan hoped to avoid the effects of massification which he regarded as partly to blame for the sterility of the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA).

Miscellaneous

the cartel describes the working device that is the basic unit of the Schools

The cartel

What is a cartel? The cartel is an original working device, proposed by Lacan for those who practice psychoanalysis as well as for anyone who wishes to study it. This Lacanian invention takes into account the effects of the group, and aims, by its structure and its functioning, at limiting these as much as possible.

Four choose each other to work Those forming a cartel choose each other with a joint project of work. In 1980, Lacan specified that the members of a cartel should be four in number, this being the number of reference in most cartels at present. The meetings are held at a rhythm decided by its members, who are called "cartel members".

The ‘plus one’ Chosen by the cartel members, the "plus one" is the person in charge of the selection, discussion and destination of the work of each member. This role is crucial for tactfully supporting the work of each member, handling critical moments and maintaining the distance between knowledge and truth. The "plus one" is also a link with the School, since it favors the exposition of the product of the cartel's work.

The theme of work The creation of a cartel is the occasion for each member to choose a theme or ‘trait’ of work: reading of a seminar, elaboration of a concept or a case, exploring the connections of psychoanalysis to other fields, etc. A common theme is added to the ‘trait’ of each member, which in turn gives the title to the cartel, under which it can be declared to the School.

The product of each member The work carried out does not give rise to the collective product of a knowledge that implies the acceptance of the group. It is up to each one, according to the moment of his or her relation to psychoanalysis, to verify what might have been modified in his or her relation with analytic knowledge.

The exposition of work The products of a cartel may be exposed at the study days of the cartels, which are the occasion for the work of the cartel to be made public. Some of these works can also be made available in the different publications of the Freudian Field.

Permutation The cartel lasts for no more than one or two years. After this period it is dissolved. This necessary conclusion helps to avoid the inertia evident in work groups that are never ending, which becomes an obstacle to the acquisition of new knowledge for the subject.

In the Founding Act of June 21, 1964, Jacques Lacan introduced the cartel for the first time in the following way: "Those who enter this School will undertake to fulfil a task that is subject to both internal and external supervision. In exchange they are assured that nothing will be spared in order that anything valuable they do gets the attention it deserves and in the appropriate place. To carry out this work we shall adopt the principle of sustained elaboration in small groups. Each group (we have a name to designate them) will be composed of at least three people, five a most, four is the right balance. Plus One responsible for the selection, the discussion and the outcome to be accorded to the work of each. After a certain period of functioning the elements of the group will find themselves invited to permutate into another group."

Some years later, in his seminar of March 11, 1980, D’écolage of the School, Lacan adds certain further precisions to the device of the cartel: "(…) I launch without delay the Freudian Cause and I restore in its favor the basic unit taken from the foundation of the School, that is to say, the cartel, whose formalization I refine, taking into experience into account. First – Four are chosen to pursue a work that must bear a product. I make it clear: a product of each member, not collectively. Second - The conjunction of the four is effected around a Plus One, who, although it may be anybody, must be somebody. He or she is charged with watching over the internal effects of the enterprise and of producing its elaboration. Third – To avoid the effect of gluing together, it must give rise to permutation in the fixed term of a year, two at most. Four – No progress is to be expected, except that of opening up, periodically, both the results as well as the critical moments of the work. Five – Drawing by lots will ensure the regular renewal of the reference points created with the aim of vectorizing the group"

The cartel today The accumulated practice since the invention of this institutional device has proved its fertility in the reading of reference texts, in the study of fundamental concepts and in the ongoing investigation of psychoanalysis. It is therefore an instrument of analytic formation and a basic unit of the Freudian Cause. In 1994, Jacques-Alain Millar – concerned with a certain routine affecting the functioning of this device in some of the schools of the WAP – produced a series of reflections calling for a return to the essentials of the "Lacanian plan". These can be found in two texts: The cartel in the world and The inverse of the School: "(…) the ethical and epistemological demand that Lacan gave voice to is supposed to be accomplished in a work, which is the work of the School, and this work is carried out by the cartel (…)" "(…) in Lacan’s intention, the work of the School (…) passed by way of the cartel. By way of the cartel, that is to say: not by way of the seminars, courses, conferences or debates. Nothing like that: the cartel"

J.-A. Miller also added his voice and, as a matter of fact, the cartel is not only in use at present, but it is also on the basis of this device that several schools are now working towards the IVth Congress of the WAP.

See Also

==External links== World Association of Psychoanalysis

References