Libidinal Economies of Fascism

Outlining a genealogy of psychoanalytic responses to fascism, this lecture endeavors to rethink fascism less as an ideology (or a manifestation of rightwing extremism) than as an organization of libido to which people across the political spectrum (including leftists) may be susceptible. Extending the claims of Hatred of Sex (2022), Dean puts some of the Freudian theses of the Frankfurt School into dialogue with the philosophy of Jacques Rancière, asking why it appears so hard to truly relish democracy and equality.

Tim Dean holds the Frank Hodgins Chair in American Literature at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is the author or editor of eight books, including Unlimited Intimacy: Reflections on the Subculture of Barebacking, and (with Oliver Davis) Hatred of Sex. A volume of his essays on psychoanalysis and sexuality, El rostro fijo de las perversiones, is forthcoming from Paradiso (Mexico City); and he is currently completing The Fascism in Us All.

Co-sponsored by the Department of English, the German Department, and the Program in European Cultural Studies.