Psychologisation in Times of Globalisation

Today more than ever, our understanding of ourselves, others and the world around us is described in psychological terms. Psychologists deeply influence our society, and psychological-discourse has invaded companies, advertising, culture, politics, and even our social and family life. Moreover, psychologisation has become a global process, applied to situations such as torture, reality TV and famine. This book analyses this ‘overflow of psychology’ in the three main areas of science, culture and politics.The concept of psychologisation has become crucial to current debates in critical psychology. De Vos combines these debates with insights from the fields of critical theory, philosophy and ideology critique, to present the first book-length argument that seriously considers the concept of psychologisation in these times of globalisation. The book contains numerous real-world examples making it an accessible and engaging analysis that should be of interest to researchers, postgraduates and undergraduate students of psychology and philosophy.

Using shrewd lessons from the history of social psychology, Jan De Vos impugns a globalizing psychology that continues to penetrate the lifeworld with its debilitating excesses. This adroit and insightful work marks a starkly original and important voice in critical psychology. - Henderikus Stam, Professor of Psychology, University of Calgary, CanadaIn this compelling volume, De Vos formulates a substantive critique of the seemingly unstoppable psychological colonisation of the human life-world. The book will be an eye-opener for all psychology students, but equally a hugely important invitation to serious soul-searching for all academic and professional psychologists. - Dany Nobus, Chair of Psychology and Psychoanalysis, Brunel University, UKJan De Vos gives us a fascinating and thought-provoking account of psychologisation, showing how psychology lives everywhere in modern life and subjectivity – even in attempts to escape from it. This is an original work and the reader is sure to come away with new, important ideas. - Svend Brinkmann, Professor of Psychology, Director of the Center for Qualitative Studies, University of Aalborg, Denmark, "At the minimum, psychologists of all stripes should read this text, as it relentlessly outlines the problematic - and problemitizing - nature of psychology." - Gabriel V. Rupp, University of Central Oklahoma, USA and Guy Jeff Powell, Southwest Youth and Family, Oklahoma, USA in PsycCRITIQUES"[De Vos'] analyses are full of concrete detail from sometimes surprising parts of society. The book has surprising twists and turns and is often witty. ... It is clever, very well done and it challenges everyone." - Svend Brinkmann, Aalborg Universitet, Denmark in Qualitative Research in Psychology"Using shrewd lessons from the history of social psychology, Jan De Vos impugns a globalizing psychology that continues to penetrate the lifeworld with its debilitating excesses. This adroit and insightful work marks a starkly original and important voice in critical psychology." - Henderikus Stam, Professor of Psychology, University of Calgary, Canada"In this compelling volume, De Vos formulates a substantive critique of the seemingly unstoppable psychological colonisation of the human life-world. The book will be an eye-opener for all psychology students, but equally a hugely important invitation to serious soul-searching for all academic and professional psychologists." - Dany Nobus, Chair of Psychology and Psychoanalysis, Brunel University, UK"Jan De Vos gives us a fascinating and thought-provoking account of psychologisation, showing how psychology lives everywhere in modern life and subjectivity – even in attempts to escape from it. This is an original work and the reader is sure to come away with new, important ideas." - Svend Brinkmann, Professor of Psychology, Director of the Center for Qualitative Studies, University of Aalborg, Denmark"I would definitely recommend it to people who are already in psychology and specifically critical psychologists, and particularly to people with an interest or background in psychoanalysis…I definitely do think De Vos has made an important contribution here. It has definitely shifted my thinking about psychology and psychologisation." - Khonzi Mbatha, PINS

Jan De Vos is a researcher at the faculty of Philosophy and Moral Sciences at Ghent University, Belgium.