Adorno und Bourdieu. Zum Verhältnis von Sozio- und Psychoanalyse

The talk will be only in German.

With contributions by Christine Kirchhoff, Frank Schultheis, Vera King, and Stephan Lessenich

The relationship between the individual and society has always been at the center of sociological reflection. While the analytical determination of this relationship is sometimes one-sided—in the sense of individual autonomy or social determination—the more theoretically productive approaches assume a complex interdependence. However, they often remain on the surface of a semantics of “structure” and “action” without systematically incorporating the significance of the psyche. The critical theories of Bourdieu and Adorno, on the other hand, can be considered more advanced approaches that are particularly groundbreaking for understanding contemporary crises in the sense of a substantial intertwining of socioanalysis and psychoanalysis.

Against this background, the Institute for Social Research (IfS) and the Sigmund Freud Institute (SFI) are holding a joint evening event to explore the conceptual and methodological significance of the recourse to psychoanalysis for the sociological analyses of Adorno and Bourdieu, and the extent to which their theoretical approaches and perspectives can be reconciled with one another.

Christine Kirchhoff is Professor of Psychoanalysis, Subject and Cultural Theory at the International Psychoanalytic University Berlin.

Franz Schultheis is Senior Professor of Sociology at Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen.

Vera King is Professor of Sociology and Psychoanalytic Social Psychology at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and Executive Director of the Sigmund Freud Institute.

Stephan Lessenich is Professor of Social Theory and Social Research at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and Director of the Institute for Social Research.