Jessica Benjamin (born 1946) is a psychoanalyst known for her contributions to

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...

and social thought. She is currently a practicing psychoanalyst in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where she is on the faculty of the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Postdoctoral Psychology Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, and the Stephen Mitchell Center for Relational Studies. Jessica Benjamin is one of the original contributors to the fields of relational psychoanalysis, theories of intersubjectivity, and gender studies and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

as it relates to psychoanalysis and society. She is known for her ideas about recognition in both human development and the sociopolitical arena.

Biography

Jessica Benjamin was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family and earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1967, and her MA from the University of Frankfurt in West Germany, where she studied Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy. Jessica Benjamin earned her PhD in Sociology from NYU in 1978. She received her psychoanalytic training from New York University Postdoctoral Psychology Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and engaged in post doc research on infancy with Dr. Beatrice Beebe at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is a Fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities.

Work

Her early studies included social structure and

, but more recently she is known for her effort to explain the classical aspects of

using object relations, relational psychoanalysis, and feminist thought. She has made significant contributions to the concept of intersubjectivity in psychoanalysis.Harriet Kimble Wrye
Review of ''Shadow of the Other''
Dallas Psychoanalytic Center, reprinted from '' Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association'' 47 (accessed September 8, 2008). Benjamin has published four books. In ''The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism and the Problem of Domination'' (1988) Benjamin undertook a major revision of Freud's theories of both human development and sexuality. Using contemporary research on infancy and gender, she argued for the importance of recognition and the intersubjective relationship. Against this background, she showed how relationships of domination involve the alienation of recognition, and a form of gender splitting she called gender polarity. She argued that we accept and perpetuate relationships of domination not because of an inherent aggressive instinct, but the difficulty of recognizing the Other. She theorizes that domination is a complex psychological process which ensnares both parties in bonds of complicity, and supports this by showing how it affects our family life, our social institutions, and especially our sexual relations, in spite of our conscious commitment to equality and freedom. ''The Bonds of Love, Revisited'' is an edition that celebrates the influence of Jessica Benjamin's work through fifteen essays that look back on the book's impact, offering theoretical deliberations and elaborations of the book's original themes and reflection on the book's impact personally and professionally, for clinicians and feminists around the world. Benjamin's second book, ''Like Subjects, Love Objects: Essays on Recognition and Sexual Difference'' (1995) further developed the psychoanalytic theory of intersubjectivity, revising Freud's oedipal theory to include both genders' need to integrate independence and connection. She builds on the foundation of Freud's Oedipal theory, critically revising it to include the female's struggle for independence. She argues that traditional Freudian theories inevitably reproduce patriarchal gender relationships which are characterized by domination and submission, most notably reflected in the cultural polarity of male rationality and female vulnerability. ''Shadow of the Other: Intersubjectivity and Gender in Psychoanalysis'' (1997), extends Benjamin's work on intersubjectivity, love and

aggression Aggression is behavior aimed at opposing or attacking something or someone. Though often done with the intent to cause harm, some might channel it into creative and practical outlets. It may occur either reactively or without provocation. In h ...

. In 2017, Benjamin published her fourth book, ''Beyond Doer and Done to: Recognition Theory, Intersubjectivity and the Third'', an expansion of her theory of mutual recognition and its breakdown into the complementarity of "doer and done to."

Reception

Benjamin is considered to be one of the most important and influential psychoanalysts of the last four decades. She is one of the founders of relational psychoanalysis, and is one of the first to introduce feminism and gender studies into psychoanalytic thought. Benjamin's 2004 article B''eyond doer and done to: An intersubjective view of thirdness'' is the 4th most cited journal article in the field of psychoanalysis. In 2015, Benjamin received the Hans-Kilian-Award for her achievements in the fields of psychoanalysis, feminist psychology and the theory of intersubjective recognition.

Bibliography

Books

* 1985: ''A desire of one's own : psychoanalytic feminism and intersubjective space'' * 1988: ''The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism and the Problem of Domination'' * 1995: ''Like Subjects, Love Objects: Essays on Recognition and Sexual Difference'' * 1997: ''Shadow of the Other: Intersubjectivity and Gender in Psychoanalysis'' * 2017: ''Beyond Doer and Done to: Recognition Theory, Intersubjectivity and the Third''

Selected Articles

* Benjamin, J. (2004). ''Beyond doer and done to: An intersubjective view of thirdness''. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, LXXIII. * Benjamin, J. (2005). ''From many into one: Attention, energy and the containing of multitudes''. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 15, 185–201. * Benjamin, J. (2009). ''A relational psychoanalysis perspective on the necessity of acknowledging failure in order to restore the facilitating and containing features of the intersubjective relationship (The Shared Third)''. International Journal of PsychoAnalyisis, 90, 441–450. * Benjamin, J. (2010). ''Can we recognize each other? Response to Donna Orange''. The International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology, 5, 244–256. * Benjamin, J. (2010). ''Where's the gap and what's the difference?: The relational view of intersubjectivity, multiple selves, and enactments.'' Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 46, 112–119. * Benjamin, J. (2011). ''Facing reality together discussion: With culture in mind: The social third''. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 12, 27–36.

External links

Jessica Benjamin Papers
- Pembroke Center Archives, Brown University

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Jessica 1946 births Living people American psychoanalysts Jewish psychoanalysts Relational psychoanalysts Feminist psychologists New York University faculty Feminism and psychoanalysis