Love in a Time of Hate: Liberation Psychology in Latin America

Rating:
Summary: Great text for teachers
Review: Hollander has done a marvelous job of situating her subject in the context of modern Latin American history. Using this book as a supplemental text, teachers can enrich courses in political science, sociology, anthropology, Latin American studies and 20th century history. For certain courses in social psychology this book is essential. Students of the history and psychology of the Holocaust will want to read Hollander. High school teachers who have had "Facing History" training will find this book full of suggestive ideas and curriculum materials.

Rating:
Summary: Great text for teachers
Review: Hollander has done a marvelous job of situating her subject in the context of modern Latin American history. Using this book as a supplemental text, teachers can enrich courses in political science, sociology, anthropology, Latin American studies and 20th century history. For certain courses in social psychology this book is essential. Students of the history and psychology of the Holocaust will want to read Hollander. High school teachers who have had "Facing History" training will find this book full of suggestive ideas and curriculum materials.

Rating:
Summary: Psychoanalysis meets Marxism meets Transnational Psychology
Review: Not many US psychologists know a lot about psychology in Latin America, whether in terms of history or theory. Nancy Caro Hollander's book provides an interesting introduction to both through the use of historical memoir centering upon six prominent psychologists--many of them European emigres--situated in the Southern Cone region (Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay). Her narrative examines how their classical psychoanalytic training, animated yet challenged by their Marxist political commitments, ultimately unfolded and became transformed in the crucible of the revolutionary (and counter-revolutionary) political environment of mid-century Latin America. These psychologists developed and courageously enacted a personally, professionally, and politically risky activist psychotherapeutic praxis which stands as an interesting counterpoint to traditional US approaches. This book will be an enlightening and thought-provoking read for those psychologists who are genuinely interested in cross-cultural perspectives on psychological theory and praxis, politically-engaged psychology, activist psychology, and/or history of psychology from a global perspective. The book's interdisciplinary approach, which combined history, political science, and psychology, was quite intellectually stimulating. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

Rating:
Summary: Psychoanalysis meets Marxism meets Transnational Psychology
Review: Not many US psychologists know a lot about psychology in Latin America, whether in terms of history or theory. Nancy Caro Hollander's book provides an interesting introduction to both through the use of historical memoir centering upon six prominent psychologists--many of them European emigres--situated in the Southern Cone region (Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay). Her narrative examines how their classical psychoanalytic training, animated yet challenged by their Marxist political commitments, ultimately unfolded and became transformed in the crucible of the revolutionary (and counter-revolutionary) political environment of mid-century Latin America. These psychologists developed and courageously enacted a personally, professionally, and politically risky activist psychotherapeutic praxis which stands as an interesting counterpoint to traditional US approaches. This book will be an enlightening and thought-provoking read for those psychologists who are genuinely interested in cross-cultural perspectives on psychological theory and praxis, politically-engaged psychology, activist psychology, and/or history of psychology from a global perspective. The book's interdisciplinary approach, which combined history, political science, and psychology, was quite intellectually stimulating. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent presentation of the reality behind the headlines.
Review: This book is the one to read if you want to understand the violence--both public and private--that shook Latin America in the last 15 to 20 years. Hollander goes behind cliches about "latin", "Argentinians" and other pat explanations for the Dirty War, the coup in Chile and other right-wing activity against both soldier and civilian. Hollander shows both the class and psychological underpinnings of this period, intertwining marxist theory with psychoanalytic insight. She tells the story through ten psychoanalysts who fought the military in their various countries, who had to either flee or go into hiding, but who all strove to understand their countries. The combination of the analytical and human stories is spellbinding.