Papers by Nikolay Mintchev
International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 2021
This article argues for a citizen social science methodology in which residents from the sites of... more This article argues for a citizen social science methodology in which residents from the sites of inquiry play a central role in key activities of the research process and beyond: research design and data collection, presentation and publication of findings, and design and implementation of urban interventions that address challenges to quality of life. This is a way of democratising the research process through sustained engagement with communities and an emphasis on co-designing pathways to impact. The article draws on the authors' experience of running a citizen social science project in Beirut, Lebanon, where citizen scientists, university academics, and NGOs have worked collaboratively to understand what prosperity means for local residents, develop context-specific measures of prosperity, and design and implement small-scale interventions for local challenges.
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IGP Stories, 2020
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Journal of the British Academy, 2019
This article argues that a citizen science and participatory planning approach to infrastructure ... more This article argues that a citizen science and participatory planning approach to infrastructure can lead to significant outcomes for improving quality of life, as well as building pathways to shared prosperity in diverse urban environments. Drawing on examples from Lebanon-a country that is heavily impacted by displacement from neighbouring Syria-the article argues that the practice of co-design creates opportunities for social inclusion and engagement that are often missing from top-down infrastructural development projects. This point is illustrated through the case studies of Ziad Kalthoum's (2018) film Taste of Cement and a participatory spatial intervention organised by a British Academy-funded project in which the authors took part. Focussing specifically on the dimension of subjectivity, the article claims that participa-tory planning that engages both hosts and refugees can encourage collective aspirations and affirmation of difference rather than the social divisions and negative stereotyping that often result from infrastructural exclusions.
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Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, 2019
This article is about the socially divisive consequences of the UK's 2016 referendum on membershi... more This article is about the socially divisive consequences of the UK's 2016 referendum on membership in the European Union. Rather than redressing the country's long-standing class divisions, the referendum has exacerbated them by fuelling negative stereotypes and mutual accusations between Leave and Remain supporters. Drawing on psychoanalytic theories of subjectivity, the article argues that support for Leave and Remain is structured by circulations of affect, fantasies of the good life, and psychic investments in different experiences of immigration, nationalism and social and economic inequality.
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Routledge Handbook of Psychoanalytic Political Theory, 2019
Psychoanalytic literature on migration often focuses on individual case studies of migrants, desc... more Psychoanalytic literature on migration often focuses on individual case studies of migrants, describing the psychic mechanisms that make up the subject's experience (e.g. splitting, dissociation, mourning, melancholia...). This literature is important, but it is written through a methodological individualism which offers little critical analysis of the broader political and cultural contexts of migration. As a result, it does little to help us address the pressing question of our time, which is how people can live together in a world where migration, displacement, and cultural diversity are the new normal. A psychoanalytic approach which addresses this question must maintain an emphasis on subjectivity, but it must also link subject-formation to the circulations of fantasies about self, others, and community within specific national and local contexts. In this chapter we draw on a range of empirical case studies to show how identification with such fantasies defines a community's experience of immigration and diversity. Migration and displacement are taking place on an unprecedented scale today. The movement of people throughout the world is diversifying the demography of cities and challenging established norms of identity, community and belonging. In many countries it is also putting pressures on social cohesion, public services, and political stability. According to a recently published UN report, there are approximately 244 million people worldwide living outside of their country of birth (United Nations 2016). In addition, there are millions more who do live in their country of birth but whose parents were migrants or refugees. Understanding how and why individuals and communities
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This response to David Lichtenstein explores the opportunities and challenges that arise from the... more This response to David Lichtenstein explores the opportunities and challenges that arise from the conceptual pluralism within the field of psychoanalysis. It argues that the Kleinian and Lacanian theoretical frameworks are in many ways incommensurable, but it also maintains that this should not translate into an either/or approach that privileges one framework over the other. Acknowledging the foundational differences between Kleinian and Lacanian theories should not forestall the possibility of productive and mutually beneficial dialogue carried out in good faith.
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This article discusses two approaches to racism in the psychoanalytic literature – one based on K... more This article discusses two approaches to racism in the psychoanalytic literature – one based on Kleinian object-relations, and another based on Lacan's theory of language as central to subjectivity. It is argued that the Kleinian method relies on drawing parallels between object-relations at the psychological level and social relations in the external world, and this limits its understanding to a narrow catalogue of psychoanalytic concepts. A Lacanian/post-Lacanian approach begins from the structure of cultural narratives and is more sensitive to social variations. Using examples from anthropology, it is argued that both theories are crucial for a robust analysis of racism.
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Researchers and policymakers working on prosperity, happiness and wellbeing in the UK have recent... more Researchers and policymakers working on prosperity, happiness and wellbeing in the UK have recently reworked GDP-centred notions of progress and identified community and belonging as major determinants of a good life. The dominant notion of community in most writing on this topic draws on Putnam's work on social capital as measured by trust and/or civic engagement. This approach, however, captures only the social aspect of community, without addressing the symbolic dimension of political discourses and their national and local effects. Using data from Newham, London, this article argues that a narrow focus on social capital obfuscates the complexity of community dynamics, leading to misconceptions about the causes of social fragmentation. In the case of Newham, we show that while survey data on social capital suggests that diversity is detrimental to community life, a more nuanced analysis reveals that it is in fact an important part of community cohesion.
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Books by Nikolay Mintchev
'Our increasingly uncertain times seem to be marked by polarized and often violent antagonisms be... more 'Our increasingly uncertain times seem to be marked by polarized and often violent antagonisms between competing certainties informing social, religious and political identifications. How can we make sense of this paradox? This challenging volume argues for the importance of a psychosocial perspective in capturing the crucial unconscious complicities linking uncertainty and certainty. It deploys a series of illuminating concepts and theories as well as a truly critical ethos in a bid to rigorously thematize and potentially deactivate this explosive mix. Simultaneously bold in its scope and reflexive in its method, it will certainly reward and inspire!' —Yannis Stavrakakis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki This book explores the concept of certainty, a term which is widely used in everyday language to designate a psychological experience or feeling but is rarely considered controversial or politically charged. The Feeling of Certainty argues that conversely this most ordinary of feelings plays a key role in shaping identity formation, social exclusion, prejudice, and commitment to political causes. The authors question what it means for the subject to feel certainty about her or his relationships to self and others. From where does the feeling of certainty originate, and how does it differ from modes of thought that are open to scepticism about the order of things? They draw on a wide range of theories, including those of Freud, Klein, Lacan, Wittgenstein, Bion, and Jung, challenging readers to consider the world of ideologies, symbols, and stereotypes in which certainty is entrenched, as well as the inter-and intra-psychic processes and defence mechanisms which form the unconscious foundation of the experience of certainty. This collection will offer valuable insight to scholars of psychology, politics, social science and history.
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Book Reviews by Nikolay Mintchev
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Papers by Nikolay Mintchev
Books by Nikolay Mintchev
Book Reviews by Nikolay Mintchev