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This collection of essays presents a particular challenge to the reviewer, as doing equal justice to its 22 contributions across its broad subject span is nearly impossible. Many of the essays in the book reveal (and rely on) the result of years of archival and primary source research, representing a myriad of specific engagements across a wide spectrum between history and psychoanalysis, and adding particular insight throughout. The volume is based on reports originally presented at a conference held in Budapest in October 2015 entitled ‘Psycho-politics: the Cross-Sections of Science and Ideology in the History of the Psy-Sciences’. Throughout the aforementioned 22 chapters, their authors address a variety of these intersections from a historical perspective.
The book aims to present the reader with the opportunity to compare the development of the psy-sciences in the institutions where they are practised in (chiefly) Central and Eastern Europe with corresponding developments elsewhere in the world. While the psy-sciences (psychology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, pedagogy, criminology, special education, etc.) have been studied from historical and political angles before, this volume stands out in its distinct focus on the specifics of the process in Central and Eastern Europe. On the one hand, this part of the world represents the intellectual cradle of psychoanalysis. On the other, much less is known about the biographies and conceptual developments associated with specific individuals, in particular as their thought and activities confronted changing regimes and ideologies.
The first two sections of the book highlight how essential the Hungarian contribution to the development of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy has been.