Psychoanalytic Musings on the Dynamics of Greed and Its Containment: A Perspective from India

Authors

  • Parul Bansal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1234/fa.v0i77.301

Keywords:

Anality, containment, envy, greed, gratitude, jealousy, money

Abstract

Greed is a complex human experience. It is damned as well as sanctified. It has productive and destructive aspects. It has both psychological and social origins. The paper addresses these complexities. It raises and responds to questions such as, How do we understand the dynamics of greed? What is the difference between greed as enlivening and greed as destructive? What is the psychic significance of money and wealth? How do the intrapsychic and outer forces join to fan greed? The paper illustrates these concerns through an interweaving of two case studies and ideas drawn from Winnicott, Klein, Fenichel, Ferenczi and Salman Akhtar. It also makes an effort to explicate the directions in which psychological processes and social institutions can encourage self interest while containing greed in an unevenly developing country such as India.

Author Biography

Parul Bansal

Dr. Parul Bansal is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Lady Shri Ram College for Women, a Liberal Arts college affiliated to University of Delhi, India. Her area of academic research and interest are: Identity, Ideology, Intimacy, Social Change, Psychoanalysis, Psychosocial studies and Qualitative Research. She is the author of 'Youth in Contemporary India: Images of Identity and Social Change' (2013) by Springer and 'Psychology: Debates and Controversies' (2019) by Sage, India. 

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Published

2019-11-27

How to Cite

Bansal, P. (2019). Psychoanalytic Musings on the Dynamics of Greed and Its Containment: A Perspective from India. Free Associations, (77), 73–90. https://doi.org/10.1234/fa.v0i77.301

Issue

No. 77 (2019)

Section

Articles

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