“Vamık Volkan, the world's foremost expert on traumatized societies, developed many of the concepts that are the key to understanding protracted ethnoreligious conflicts. In this captivating memoir, he takes the reader on a tour through a world of war, at the same time teaching his readers about the impact of large-group regression and chosen traumas. He is the rare psychoanalyst who ventures out of the office into the wider world.”
—Jessica Stern, author of Terror in the Name of God and former member of President Bill Clinton's National Security Council staff

About the Book

For more than thirty years, renowned psychoanalyst Vamik D. Volkan has applied the theories of his profession to societies in conflict, venturing into cauldrons of unrest as observer, mediator, and practitioner. In this volume, he shares his experiences facilitating dialogue between opposing enemy groups, in numerous contexts and conflict zones, and presents the pioneering theoretical and practical frameworks he developed. In the process, he provides a unique window onto watershed moments of the recent past—from major historical events, such as the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and continued violence in the Middle East. The findings and observations presented in this volume provide not only a new way of looking at recent historical events, but also offer a novel set of tools for understanding and shaping the present and future.

About the Author

Vamık D. Volkan is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia. He is widely considered to be the world's foremost expert on the psychology of war-torn societies.

Details

ISBN: 9781939578037
Format: hardcover
SRP: $29.95
Page count: 504 pages
Trim size: 6 x 9
Pub date: August 2013