The Rationality of Political Violence:
“Our” Fascination and Envy of “Them”

Presented by Andrew Samuels, Ph.D.

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In this talk we will examine some of the circumstances in which political violence can be considered not only ‘rational’ (in Hannah Arendt’s phrase), but may also in fact be valuable. The idea that the psychological relationship between Westerners and, for example, Islamic fundamentalists, whether violent or not, is one of fascination and envy. How can ‘we’ comprehend, let alone respect and value, their view of the world that to us, is so spectacularly ‘other’?

Course Objectives:

• Describe a situation in which an act of political violence might be considered a rational response.
• Give an example of how envy contributes to our misunderstanding of a cultural world view which is inherently different from our own.

Andrew Samuels, Ph.D., is known internationally for his work at the interface of politics and ‘therapy thinking’. His writing on the father, masculinity, contemporary spiritualities, countertransference and relational clinical work has also been widely appreciated. Coiner of the term ‘post-Jungian’, he is a Training Analyst of the Society of Analytical Psychology, London. He was Chair of the UK Council for Psychotherapy and founder of Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social Responsibility. Professor of Analytical Psychology at the University of Essex, UK. Books include: Jung and the Post-Jungians (1985), A Critical Dictionary of Jungian Analysis (1986), The Father (1986), The Plural Psyche (1989), Psychopathology (1989), award-winning Politics on the Couch (2001), Persons, Passions, Psychotherapy, Politics (2015) and award-winning A New Therapy for Politics? (2016). Also in 2016 he co-edited Analysis and Activism: Social and Political Contributions of Jungian Psychology. His website is known for its many lively, spontaneous talks delivered straight to camera: www.andrewsamuels.com.