Professor Juliet Mitchell

Professor Juliet Mitchell will give the second in a series of five lectures on Understanding Society. The series will culminate in a panel discussion at Kings Place on Tuesday 27 November 2012.

Abstract

Public warfare and private depression, unfortunately, distinguish all human societies. Using, but standing against, the evolutionist understanding of violence and warfare, I suggest that to the contrary, warfare depends on a prohibition of violence. Following this prohibition warfare contributes to the construction of human society. Gender analysis and psychoanalytic insights into unconscious processes frame the argument which also briefly mentions Hamlet to illustrate its thesis.