Freud, Lacan e Jung: contribuições para as relações internacionais

Abstract

The relationship between Psychology and International Relations is complex and multifaceted. While there is considerable overlap between the two fields, there are also important differences in terms of the questions these fields seek to answer and the methods they use to answer them. Incorporating psychology and studies of the human mind into the domain of international relations can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the behaviour of individuals and states in world politics. In order to achieve this understanding and to recognize the importance of studying the general field of psychology and the human mind in international politics, more specifically in the relations between societies and between States, this dissertation has a double objective: the first refers to the need to highlight the relevance of the relationship between these two domains of knowledge, Psychology and IR, for a deeper understanding of conflicts at the collective and international level. This first step was carried out through a bibliographic review based on the works of two of the main exponents of Psychology: Sigmund Freud, from the perspective of William Bettcher, and Jacques Lacan, from the perspective of Franz Fanon and Homi Bhabha. It can be observed that the thought of Freud and Lacan has been, gradually, used to examine international events, as well as the relations between States, from the individual to the collective scope. The second objective concerns the theoretical introduction of Carl Gustav Jung's concepts, to analyse collective conflicts based on Analytical Psychology. The Jungian concepts of collective unconscious, shadow and projection can be used to understand the nature and origin of collective conflicts and to understand the function of myths and symbols in the collective unconscious of a society. These studies deepen the knowledge of social and national movements that can help in the understanding of the international space, when two societies interact, especially in a conflicting and aggressive way. Despite having two objectives in this work, there is only one general conclusion: International Relations, as a field of human sciences, should not disregard the psychological and psychic elements of collectivities, for the natural reason that not only individuals interact, as a rule, through psychological and psychic dimensions, but also collectivities, societies and States manifest themselves based on these dimensions, since they are crossed by the action of human activities.