Resident Fellow Speaker Series: Verónica Garibotto (Spanish and Portuguese)

"Paradoxical Ideologies: An Intersectional View of Argentine Psychoanalytic Culture"

Argentines take pride in being the most psychoanalyzed population in the world. According to a study by Modesto Alonso, there are 154 analysts per 100,000 people in Argentina (which compares with about 27 per 100,000 people in the United States) and Buenos Aires ranks as number one for patients undergoing psychoanalytic treatment, surpassing Vienna, the discipline’s city of birth. The popularity of psychoanalysis goes beyond the therapist couch. At least since the 1940s, the discipline has extensively influenced the national culture on multiple fronts. It has permeated ordinary language, film, television, radio, literature, and academic discourse, creating what historian Mariano Plotkin calls “a psychoanalytic culture”. This unique psychoanalytic culture has historically influenced progressive causes, both at home and abroad. Veronica Garibotto’s book project, Paradoxical Ideologies, examines the Argentine psychoanalytic culture from an intersectional perspective (an approach that examines how categories such as gender, class, sexuality, space, and race get combined to create marginalization). The main claim is that, contrary to widespread celebratory perceptions, the Argentine psychoanalytic culture has often enabled interlocking forms of oppression. The project has two interrelated goals: to examine critically one of Argentina’s most influential discourses, and to further our understanding of the links between psychoanalysis and intersectionality.

Verónica Garibotto, "Paradoxical Ideologies: An Intersectional View of Argentine Psychoanalytic Culture"