The Psychopolitics of Food probes into the contemporary ‘foodscape’, examining culinary practices and food habits and in particular the ways in which they conflate with neoliberal political economy. It suggests that generic alimentary and culinary practices constitute technologies of the self and the body and argues that the contemporary preoccupation with food takes the form of ‘rites of passage’ that express and mark the transition from a specific stage of neoliberal development to another vis-à-vis a re-configuration of the alimentary and sexual regimes. Even though these rites of passage are taking place on the borders of cultural bi-polarities, their function, nevertheless, is precisely to define these borders as sites of a neoliberal transitional demand; that is, to produce a cultural bifurcation between ‘eating orders’ and ‘eating dis-orders’, by promoting and naturalising certain social logics while simultaneously rendering others as abject and anachronistic. The book is a worthwhile read for researchers and advanced scholars in the areas of food studies, critical psychology, anthropology and sociology.

Women have always been inextricably linked to food, especially in its production and preparation. This link, which applies cross-culturally, has seldom been fully acknowledged or celebrated. The role of women in this is usually taken for granted and therefore often rendered unimportant or invisible. This book presents a wide-ranging, interdiscplinary and comprehensive feminist analysis of women’s central role in many aspects of the world’s food systems and cultures. This central role is examined through a range of lenses, namely cross-cultural, intergenerational, and socially diverse.

What if fashion was a state? What kind of state would it be? Probably not a democracy. Otto von Busch sees fashion as a totalitarian state, with a population all too eager to enact the decrees of its aesthetic superiority. Peers police each other and deploy acts of judgment, peer-regulation, and micro-violence to uphold the aesthetic order of fashion supremacy. Using four design projects as tools for inquiry, Von Busch explores the seductive desires of envy and violence within fashion drawing on political theories. He proposes that the violent conflicts of fashion happen not only in arid cotton fields or collapsing factories, but in the everyday practice of getting dressed, in the judgments, sneers, and rejections of others. Indeed, he suggests that feelings of inclusion and adoration are what make us feel the pleasure of being fashionable-of being seductive, popular, and powerful. Exploring the conflicting emotions associated with fashion, Von Busch argues that while the current state of fashion is bred out of fear, The Psychopolitics of Fashion can offer constructive modes of mitigation and resistance. Through projects that actively work towards disarming the violent practices of dress, Von Busch suggests paths towards a more engaging and meaningful experience of fashion he calls “deep fashion.”

This book offers a detailed study of the psycho-politics of governmental manipulation, in which a vulnerable population is disciplined by contorting their sense of self-worth. In many conflict settings, a nation’s government exerts its dominance over a marginalized population group through laws, policies and practices that foster stark inequality. This book shows how such domination comes in the form of systems of humiliation orchestrated by governmental forces. This thesis draws upon recent findings in social psychology, conflict analysis, and political sociology, with case studies of governmental directives, verdicts, policies, decisions and norms that, when enforced, foster debasement, disgrace or denigration. One case centers on the US immigration laws that target vulnerable population groups, while another focuses on the ethnic discrimination of the central government of Sudan against the Sudanese Africans. The book’s conclusion focuses on compassion-motivated practices that represent a counter-force to government-sponsored strategies of systemic humiliation. These are practices for building peace by professionals and non-professionals as a positive response to protracted violence. This book will be of much interest to students of peace and conflict studies, sociology, psychology, ethics, philosophy and international relations.

This thesis brings together three topics that we want to search: brand communication, gastronomy, metaphysics. After completing my master’s degree in marketing communications, what I always had in mind was the new trends in advertising communication with the globalization of the 21st century. In the design of the advertisement, not only the use of elements in communication technologies, but also the philosophical background in its fabric attracted my attention. In this context, I began to sense that there might be mythological approaches in the chemistry of advertising messages that gained importance in social media. In the postmodern environment of the 21st century, food/nutrition, culinary arts and, to put it briefly, gastronomy became the dominant language of communication. Moreover, it caused kitchen wars by becoming politicized. In line with my interest in gastronomy, I wanted to focus on food advertisements. I started to ask myself to what extent the fast-food trend that marked the 21st century was changing the Global Society. Interestingly, I started to observe that there were metaphysical images that were reflected from ancient wisdom to the present day in McDonald’s brand communication. This problem, which has not been studied much yet, was an important exercise for me in terms of analyzing the Global Society as a doctoral thesis. I can say that doing the analysis in the light of semiology as a method has broadened my horizon by directing me to an interdisciplinary perspective. I would like to acknowledge Communication Sciences and the Internet Institute, which allowed me to make such a significant study, Prof. Dr. Mete Çamdereli, who supported me with great excitement in all phases of my thesis, Prof. Dr. Emine Yavaşgel, who made great contributions to deepen my research subjects in the monitoring of the thesis. In addition, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Mim Kemal Öke, from whose suggestions I benefited in the historical context. I am also indebted to my colleagues and friends, especially my family, who buoyed me up and supported me during the research and writing process of my thesis, which lasted more than 2 years. I hope this study will be useful and inspire new studies in this field.

This book offers a unique discursive perspective on the rapid rise of food charity and how food poverty has emerged as a symptom of deeper problems requiring psychological intervention. Christian Möller explores how new anti-poverty programmes and advice cultures are psychologising poverty by locating causes and solutions inside the mind rather than in the outside world, and considers the political stakes in citizens becoming subjects of charity. Drawing extensively on Foucault alongside feminist and critical theory, the book puts forward an overdue challenge to the pervasive effects of a psychology, which limits our thinking about poverty with promises of development, happiness and resilience, but leaves social inequalities intact. Möller argues for returning critical psychology to praxis to address social injustices and inequalities. Challenging common assumptions about food charity as a symptom of a retreating welfare state, he shows how power is exercised and knowledge is produced in these spaces of care and community. Also featuring direct applications of concepts to the real-world example of food banks, the book helps set out practical guidance for students and researchers designing empirical projects in critical psychology. Drawing on original research and interviews with managers and volunteers, this text is fascinating reading for students and academics interested in critical psychology, and the relationship between charity, poverty and social exclusion.

This thorough text provides a complete overview of the drive in Lacanian psychoanalysis. Divided into four key areas, the book considers clinical, theoretical, historical, and cultural aspects of the drive, with editorial headnotes throughout. The introduction to the collection provides a comprehensive overview of the theory and history of the drive as a concept and is followed by discussion of clinical cases. Critical Essays on the Drive then assesses theoretical aspects, with chapters by world-leading Lacanian scholars. The final parts of the book explore the history of drive theory and its impact on art and culture, debunking the notion that the drive is a dormant or defunct concept and considering its applications by artists, academics, and cultural theorists. Critical Essays on the Drive will be essential reading for psychoanalysts, psychologists, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists in practice and in training. It will also be of great interest to academics and scholars of psychoanalytic and Lacanian theory, critical theory, and cultural theory.