Schizoanalysis: Politics and Subjectivity

This book presents and discusses concepts of schizoanalysis that serve as theoretical tools for analyzing contemporary political processes and modes of subjectivation. Originally developed by the philosopher Gilles Deleuze and the psychoanalyst and activist Félix Guattari, schizoanalysis is a critical political psychology that analyzes psychological phenomena in light of social, historical-cultural, aesthetic, and political issues. It provides an original analytical approach that expands the repertoires of psychology and the human sciences by apprehending phenomena in the resulting relationship between power, desiring investments, and the production of subjectivation — that is, in the articulation between politics, psychology, and subjectivity. With accessible language, this volume introduces the reader to the dynamics of ‘Deleuze-Guattarian’ thought, as well as to the specific terminologies that express it, based on eight fundamental themes in the articulation between psychology and politics, which contribute to understanding the current scenario of social effervescence and crisis: power; subjectivity; institutions and codes; capitalism; psychopolitical practices and assemblages; microfascisms; the State and public policies; and social movements. Due to its didactic nature, this book can be used as an introduction to schizoanalysis as an analytical tool that can be used by researchers to study contemporary political and subjective processes, as well as a didactic text in social psychology and political psychology courses. This is a revised and updated English translation of a book originally published in Brazilian Portuguese. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content.