Juliet Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Juliet Mitchell is a British Psychoanalyst
and socialist feminist
, who was a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge
and Professor of Psychoanalysis and Gender Studies at Cambridge University. In 2010, she's appointed to be the Director of the Expanded Doctoral School in Psychoanalytic Studies at Psychoanalysis Unit of University College London
(UCL). She is a retired registrant of the British Psychoanalytic Council
.
Mitchell was born in New Zealand
in 1940, and moved to England
in 1944. She attended St. Anne's College, Oxford, where she received a degree in English, as well as doing postgraduate work. She taught English literature
From 1962 to 1970 at Leeds University and Reading University. Throughout the 1960s, Mitchell was active in leftist politics
, and was on the editorial committee of the influential journal, New Left Review
.
Mitchell is best known for her book Psychoanalysis and Feminism. Freud, Reich, Laing and Women (1974). In it, she tried to reconcile psychoanalysis
and feminism
at a time when many considered them incompatible. A substantial part of the thesis of the book is that Marxism
may provide a model within which non-Patriarchal
structures for rearing children could occur. The lack of the 'family romance' would remove the Oedipus Complex
from a child's development, thus liberating women from the consequences of Penis Envy
and the feeling of being castrated
which Mitchell contends is the root cause of women's acceptance that they are inferior.
According to Mitchell, children are socialized into appropriate gender roles. Therefore, women grow to be equally socialized into becoming the caretakers of their households.
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
and socialist feminist
Socialist feminism
Socialist feminism is a branch of feminism that focuses upon both the public and private spheres of a woman's life and argues that liberation can only be achieved by working to end both the economic and cultural sources of women's oppression...
, who was a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
and Professor of Psychoanalysis and Gender Studies at Cambridge University. In 2010, she's appointed to be the Director of the Expanded Doctoral School in Psychoanalytic Studies at Psychoanalysis Unit of University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
(UCL). She is a retired registrant of the British Psychoanalytic Council
British Psychoanalytic Council
The British Psychoanalytic Council is an association of training institutions, professional associations and accrediting bodies which have their roots in established psychoanalysis and analytical psychology...
.
Mitchell was born in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1940, and moved to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1944. She attended St. Anne's College, Oxford, where she received a degree in English, as well as doing postgraduate work. She taught English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
From 1962 to 1970 at Leeds University and Reading University. Throughout the 1960s, Mitchell was active in leftist politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, and was on the editorial committee of the influential journal, New Left Review
New Left Review
New Left Review is a 160-page journal, published every two months from London, devoted to world politics, economy and culture. Often compared to the French-language Les Temps modernes, it is associated with Verso Books , and regularly features the essays of authorities on contemporary social...
.
Mitchell is best known for her book Psychoanalysis and Feminism. Freud, Reich, Laing and Women (1974). In it, she tried to reconcile psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
and feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
at a time when many considered them incompatible. A substantial part of the thesis of the book is that Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
may provide a model within which non-Patriarchal
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
structures for rearing children could occur. The lack of the 'family romance' would remove the Oedipus Complex
Oedipus complex
In psychoanalytic theory, the term Oedipus complex denotes the emotions and ideas that the mind keeps in the unconscious, via dynamic repression, that concentrate upon a boy’s desire to sexually possess his mother, and kill his father...
from a child's development, thus liberating women from the consequences of Penis Envy
Penis envy
Penis envy in Freudian psychoanalysis refers to the theorized reaction of a girl during her psychosexual development to the realization that she does not have a penis....
and the feeling of being castrated
Castration
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testicles or a female loses the functions of the ovaries.-Humans:...
which Mitchell contends is the root cause of women's acceptance that they are inferior.
According to Mitchell, children are socialized into appropriate gender roles. Therefore, women grow to be equally socialized into becoming the caretakers of their households.
Works
- Woman's Estate, Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1971
- Psychoanalysis and Feminism. Freud, Reich, Laing and Women, 1974, reissued as: Psychoanalysis and Feminism: A Radical Reassessment of Freudian Psychoanalysis, Basic Books 2000
- Women: The Longest Revolution, Virago Press 1984
- (editor), Feminine Sexuality. Jacques LacanJacques LacanJacques Marie Émile Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who made prominent contributions to psychoanalysis and philosophy, and has been called "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud". Giving yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, Lacan influenced France's...
and the école freudienne, W. W. Norton & Company 1985 - (editor), Selected Melanie KleinMelanie KleinMelanie Reizes Klein was an Austrian-born British psychoanalyst who devised novel therapeutic techniques for children that had an impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis...
, The Free Press 1987 - (editor, together with Ann OakleyAnn OakleyAnn Oakley is a distinguished British sociologist, feminist, and writer. She is Professor and Founder-Director of the Social Science Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London and in 2005 partially retired from full-time academic work to concentrate on her writing and...
), Who's Afraid of Feminism?: Seeing Through the Backlash, New Press 1997 - Mad Men and Medusas: Reclaiming Hysteria, Basic Books 2001
- Siblings, Sex and Violence (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2003)
External links
- Jesus College: Juliet Mitchell
- Juliet Mitchell Archive at marxists.org
- Women's Rights: Radical Change – video of Mitchell appearing in a BBC debate first televised in 1974
- A Conversation with Juliet Mitchell