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Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge is an impressive contribution to psychoanalytic knowledge. As an overview of psychoanalysis, the book is a milestone. It is a corpus of knowledge in the academic sphere as well as for those clinicians who seek to expand their interest beyond practical thinking. Govrin’s major aim is to show that against predictions and criticism, psychoanalysis today flourishes, and that this is the result of a productive tension between what he refers to as fascinated communities (dedicated to psychoanalytic models such as those developed by Klein, Winnicot, Lacan, Bion, Kohut, etc.) and disenchanted, or troubled communities (such as the relational approach, or the scientific community). The book offers a variety of perspectives on the notions of fascination and disenchantment in the context of psychoanalysis. The author’s serious academic grounding is evident throughout the nine chapters and in the book’s general layout. As such Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge offers a rewarding challenge for theoretical psychoanalytic exploration; and it raises philosophical and scientific considerations in the course of its examination of psychoanalytic theory.
Govrin opens with a personal history as a fascinated as well as troubled analyst, recalling early professional experiences—his eye-opening first encounters with the rich and varied descriptions of the human mind by Freud, Klein, Bion, Winnicott, and other major psychoanalytic thinkers. It was a personal voyage during which he also had to protect his independent thinking. While admitting his proneness to fascination—which tends to underwrite his own basic worldview—he maintains a critical perspective and is committed to critical study. Relying on his thorough critical thinking and academic research he shows, mainly
through historical analysis and description, how basic psychoanalytic assumptions have evolved, from descriptions of the human