Lecture by Jacqueline Rose

Frequently social conflict acts like a barometer of the collective psyche, reflecting old, unresolved traumas. This is the case of the student movement in South Africa where recent protests have clamoured against the racial inequalities still persisting in the post-apartheid era and have called for the destruction of monuments to segregation and a radical transformation of the educational system. On the basis of her study of the archives of the protests, the psychoanalyst and cultural critic Jacqueline Rose will talk about the different mechanisms implicit in these demonstrations and demands, as well as those in other conflicts where collective wounds are still open. Through South Africa and other examples, Rose will reflect on how the imagination can help us to commune with the past in times of upheaval.