Psychanalyses et sexualités

Psychoanalyses and Sexualities

Call for papers

IDES, Buenos Aires, October 2018

Date: October 25-26, 2018

Deadline for abstracts (no more than 300 words): June 16, 2018

Contact: Mariano Plotkin (mplotkin@ides.org.ar); Mauro Pasqualini (mpasqu2@gmail.com); Sebastián Benítez (sbenitez.psi@gmail.com)

Freud's legacy is enduring and has sustained a variety of interpretations. After being accused of "pansexualism" in his time, how do psychoanalytic ideas on sex stand now, several sexual revolutions later? Are symptoms still thought of as "sexual"? What are our current ideas about the complex relationship of the body to the psyche, of the opposition between male and female, of the construction of sexual identity, or the challenges of finding a sexual object? Is psychoanalysis still relevant to sexual politics in a moment that is often dubbed as post-feminist? Has psychoanalysis always adopted a pathologizing stance facing non-normative expressions of sexuality? Has it contributed to LGBT rights? Is there such a thing as a “queer” or “trans” psychoanalysis?

The purpose of the meeting is to generate a space for thinking and discussion on the not always harmonious relationship between various modalities of psychoanalysis and different expressions of sexuality. We use "psychoanalyses" and "sexualities" in the plural because we consider that in both cases they are multiple objects. We propose to abandon any normative approach that would be implicit in the use of the singular. In fact, we consider that there are many ways of conceptualizing and practicing both psychoanalysis and sexuality. 

We approach this issue from two perspectives: one conceptual and one historical. In the first case, we address canonical psychoanalytic texts and concepts that address the problem of sexualities from the theoretical perspective. In the second case, the accent is placed on the social circulation of psychoanalytic discourse. We are mainly interested in tracking the ways in which psychoanalytic texts and theories have been interpreted in various institutional anchors; the relationship that feminist social movements and LGBT rights have established with the psychoanalysts; the way in which psychoanalytic discourses have influenced public opinion or legislation, reinforcing, criticizing, or rejecting stereotypes about gender and sexual minorities.

The meeting will be held at the headquarters of the Economic and Social Development Institute (IDES) in Buenos Aires, where the grupo de investigación sobre saberes y culturas psi (“Psy” Knowledges and Cultures Research Group) operates, October 25-26 2018. 

Contact Info: 

Sebastian Benitez, sbenitez.psi@gmail.com

Mauro Pasqualini, mpasqu2@gmail.com

Mariano Plotkin mplotkin@ides.org.ar

Contact Email: mpasqu2@gmail.com