Political Theories of Narcissism

Does the psychoanalytic concept of narcissism contribute to enhancing the disciplinary quality and features of political theory? This book tries to portray the foundations of democracy as both a universal value and a system of values embedded in specific cultural systems of meaning from its psychoanalytic perspective. This cross-disciplinary normative attempt makes possible the constructive dialogue between contemporary Western and Japanese culture by focusing on how the psychological foundations of democracy are treated within a common disciplinary framework in two different sociocultural contexts. In light of the integration of the psychiatrically mythical idea, the book argues that the key subjects of political theory are to identify the sources of totalitarian and fascist orientations in seemingly democratic practice, and to deal with them in psychoanalytically diagnostic and remedial terms.

Dr. Takamichi Sakurai is a researcher in social and political theory. He worked on his sociological research project at Keio University, Japan, and is a visiting scholar in the Department of General Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany. He is a member of the International Erich Fromm Society.