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The Defiance of Global Commitment

A Complex Social Psychology

Brian Castellani author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:17th Jul '19

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The Defiance of Global Commitment cover

This book delves into the psychological responses to globalization, examining events like Brexit and the rise of nationalism, ultimately revealing the complexities of human reactions.

Based on a critical analysis of Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents, The Defiance of Global Commitment explores the intricate social psychology underlying global responses to globalization. The book examines significant events such as Brexit, the election of Trump, the rise of European nationalism, the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and various instances of global violence. These occurrences, while diverse, reveal a shared characteristic: they represent not merely policy failures but rather complex social psychological reactions to the forces of globalization. The implications of these reactions pose serious threats to our collective survival on Earth.

In The Defiance of Global Commitment, the author draws from contemporary advancements in cognitive, social, and complexity sciences to present a comprehensive model of defiance. The book elucidates the triangular tensions between nostalgic retreat, global aggression, and civil society, which manifest in various forms, including nostalgic resentment, LGBTQI issues, racism, and ecological aggression. This multifaceted approach highlights how these tensions reflect deeper psychological struggles within the human psyche and its interactions with others.

This insightful monograph is designed for both undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers, who are keen to explore topics related to globalization studies, complexity sciences, and social psychology. By revealing the darker aspects of globalization and its discontents, The Defiance of Global Commitment offers a crucial understanding of the psychological dimensions that underpin contemporary global challenges.

Today’s hyper-connected global world seems to breed more real discontent than the winners and techno-prophets would like us to believe. How can we explain this disgruntlement? Castellani goes beyond the obvious accounts and delves into the deeper and structural causes underlying today’s societal resentment. He revisits Freud’s seminal works on the human psyche vis-à-vis societal change. The convincing argument is made that people are not just angry because they feel left out but that there is a much more complex set of factors at play. Subsequently, global resentment is not going to disappear with some quick political fixes. On the face of it, the new Strongarm leaders or the decision to retreat from international agreements may seem to offer the way forward, but do little to fix the structural causes indeed. Those people – academics or otherwise – with a real interest in the worldwide reaction to globalization and global civil society will find Castellani’s analysis razor-sharp and urgent. Highly recommended!

Professor Lasse Gerrits

Author, Punching Clouds: An Introduction to the Complexity of Public Decision Making

Department of Political Science

Otto-Friedrich University, Bamberg, Germany

The Defiance of Global Commitment: A Complex Social Psychology’ is an important book. It is both useful and grimly realistic to invoke Freud and the aggressive tendencies of humankind in the context of our global responsibilities. This primal level demands to be addressed where the weaker forms of social constructionist theory tend to ignore it. In this sense, ‘a complex social psychology’ is necessary to engage the intersecting global, social and psychological dimensions involved. Freud’s tripartite model applied to social defiance is therefore presented as a necessary struggle of differentiation and directed aggression against a perceived ‘other’ of various mutual forms. The challenge the book presents is not only an analysis of this global condition but a distinction between positive and negative ‘therapies’ of resolution. More generally this text is a key moment for complexity theory’s insistence that social analyses must re-orient themselves to the interplay of global, social and psychological dynamics.​

Dr John Smith

Author, Qualitative Complexity

Department of Education & Community Studies

University of Greenwich, UK

Although it is essential to grasp the practical science and politics of complex global issues, the social psychological is equally mandatory. Trained in both sociology and clinical psychology, Castellani provides a powerful macroscope for readers to understand the nexus of issues involved in globalization today: tracing the building blocks from anthropology and neuroscience, through human psychology, to global societal behavior and policy. ‘The Defiance of Global Commitment’ tells this story of the evolution of global problems through a critical reading of Freud’s ‘Civilization and Its Discontents’ and through the lens of complexity science. The illustrative examples in the book are not intended to persuade readers to take a liberal or a conservative position on an issue; rather they point to a pragmatic method of studying complex issues, encouraging readers to practice this thinking and come to their own conclusions. Especially helpful is the book’s stark realistic, yet hopeful suggestions in the concluding chapter on how we can all take action individually to make an impact. This book is essential reading for engineering, public policy, and business professionals trying to get their arms around the complexity underlying globalization and contemporary global crises.

Carl Dister, M.A. Systems Engineering

Chief Innovation Manager

Reliability First, Ohio, United States

In an attempt to make sense of globalization and recent global events, this is a daring new take on a seemingly disparate set of ideas. Castellani’s treatise – an ambitious and ultimately satisfying account – weaves together scholarly traditions, from psychoanalytic theory to neuroscience, sociological critiques, and the complexity sciences. Castellani argues that the defiance of our global commitments arises from deep instincts, and that our current situation is an emergent phenomenon born of our sociality and psychological drives. Castellani avoids the trap of an easy answer, yet the reader comes away with a broader perspective of the key challenges of our global age and how we may best be within it all.

Professor Michael Seid

Director, Health Outcomes and Quality Care Research,

Pulmonary Medicine and James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence

University of Cincinnati Department of Pediatrics

Ranging from Freud to Wallerstein, as well as Foucault and a multitude of other scholars, this is an extraordinary review of theories of ‘commitment’ and the ‘global’. The binding together of this mix through the deployment of complex systems theory is the basis of its intriguing innovations, whatever you think of its Freudian underpinnings.

Sylvia Walby OBE

Distinguished Professor of Sociology

UNESCO Chair in Gender Research

Lancaster University, UK

ISBN: 9780367371630

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 500g

272 pages