Fellows 2013

Eli Zaretsky

Professor of History, New School for Social Research (New York)

Resident at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften:

January‒June and October‒December 2013

Research topic at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften:

»The General Crisis of the Twentieth Century«

Project outline:

I plan to work on the crisis of the 1930s during my stay here. I am interested in both the international aspects and the financial/economic crisis, and in their relations. Philosophically, I want to focus on the reinterpretation of liberalism that occurred in that period. Among the aspects that concern me are 1) how were the limits to the economic sphere defined? 2) what role was played by the ideas of risk and security and 3) how was the relation between the public and the private understood? ‒ I hope to continue my work on the history of psychoanalysis as well. (Eli Zaretsky)

Research partner:

Eli Zaretsky follows the invitation of Rainer Forst (Professor of Political Theory and Philosophy at Frankfurt University). His stay is funded with research funds from the Gerda and Alfons Kassel Foundation.

Scholarly profile of Eli Zaretsky

Main areas of research:

Modern cultural history (Europe and USA); the history of psychology and psychoanalysis; the history of the family; the theory and history of capitalism

Selected publications:

Why America Needs a Left. A Historical Argument, Cambridge: Polity 2012.
»Beyond the Blues: Richard Wright, Psychoanalysis and the Modern Idea of Culture«, in: Joy Damousi and Mariano Plotkin (eds.): The Transnational Unconscious , New York: Palgrave 2009.
»Psychoanalysis and the Spirit of Capitalism«, in: Constellations, vol. 15, no. 3 (2008).
Secrets of the Soul: A Social and Cultural History of Psychoanalysis, New York: Vintage 2004.
»The Place of Psychoanalysis in the History of the Jews«, in: Psychoanalysis and History, vol. 8, no. 2 (2006).
(ed. with William Isac Thomas and Florian Znaniecki), The Polish Peasant in Europe and America: A Classic Work in Immigration History, Urbana: University of Illinois Press 1995.
Capitalism, the Family, and Personal Life, New York: Harper Collins 1976.

Eli Zaretsky

Scholarly profile of Eli Zaretsky

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