Racial Rage, Racial Guilt: The Uses of Anger in Asian America
June 1, 2024 @ 9:30 am - 12:30 pm PDT
program description:
Asian Americans are conventionally described as “middle-man minorities,” outside of dominant racial paradigms of white and black, adjunct to white privilege and exempt from the brunt of systemic violence directed against black people. Historical accounts of the in-betweenness of Asian Americans trace their origins to how Asian coolie labor has served to triangulate white capital and African slavery over the course of European modernity. If this is the material history of in-betweenness, what is the psychic corollary of the middle-man thesis? Through an analysis of the Netflix dark comedy series Beef, as well as case histories of our Asian American patients and students, we argue that the psychic effects of occupying a racially intermediate position implicate an unexplored terrain of racial rage and racial guilt that Asian Americans are insistently socialized to hold on behalf of others.
In this workshop, we will consider how social and psychic processes of loss for Asian Americans are mediated, mitigated, and exacerbated by the problem of guilt. Scholars working on identity politics have embraced a range of affective states – including melancholy, pride, shame, and anger – as theoretically and politically productive emotions. In contrast, guilt is more typically attributed to others than assumed by the self. Indeed, discerning the guilt of others is often a means of proclaiming the righteousness of one’s self. If guilt is the sine qua non for initiating psychic processes of repair in object relations, how does the repudiation of guilt foreclose the possibility of reparation? More specifically, how do Asian Americans hold, embrace and repress guilt such that reparation of both the other and the self become impossible?
The presenters will consult on clinical case material from ICP third year candidate, Dr. Carrie Atikune.
presenters:
David L. Eng, Ph.D.
David L. Eng, Ph.D. is a writer, teacher and scholar of psychoanalysis, critical race theory, and queer studies. He is the Richard L. Fisher Professor of English and the Faculty Director of the Program in Asian American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Eng is the recipient of research fellowships from the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, and the Mellon Foundation, among others. In 2016, Eng was elected an honorary member of the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (IPTR) in New York City. In 2021, he was awarded the Kessler Prize from the Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS), which is given to a scholar or activist who has produced a body of work that has had a significant influence on the field of LGBTQ Studies. Eng is co-author(with Shinhee Han) of Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation: On the Social and Psychic Lives of Asian Americans (Duke University Press, 2019). Currently, he is completing a book, “Reparation and the Human,” which investigates the relationship between political and psychic genealogies in Cold War Asia.
Shinhee Han, Ph.D.
Shinhee Han, Ph.D. is a senior psychotherapist at the New School University Counseling Service and in private practice in New York City. She is the co-author (with David L. Eng) of Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation: On the Social and Psychic Lives of Asian Americans (Duke University Press, 2019). She is also a founding member of the Asian Women Giving Circle in NYC, a philanthropic organization that funds Asian women artists creating social activists and change, Previously, she was a therapist at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Barnard College, and Columbia University.
Dr. Carrie Atikune
Dr. Carrie Atikune is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Portland, Oregon. Carrie earned her MA in Counseling Psychology from Northwestern University and her PsyD in Clinical Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. In her practice, Carrie enjoys working with BIPOC and LGBTQ folks and has a particular interest in Asian American experience. She is a third year Candidate at ICPLA and is also involved in her local psychoanalytic community.
learning objectives
Upon completion of the program, participants will be able to:
cost & details
Pricing:
Early registration through May 18th/ Late registration from May 19th
Licensed Professional Non-ICP Member: $125/$140
ICP Member: $115/$130
Candidate: $85/$100
Pre-licensed: $35/$45
Registration ends on May 31st at 10pm PDT
This event will NOT be recorded.
Above ICP prices do not include non-refundable servicing/processing/bocking fees.
The ICP Refund Policy can be honored on the above ICP pricing only.
Additional servicing/processing/booking fees are non-refundable at the time of purchase.
CE Credit
We ask that all participants return the post-program evaluation form emailed to them at the conclusion of the program.
Special Accommodations
Please submit any requests for Special Accommodations to the ICP Office prior to registering or at your earliest convenience to ensure that we are able to assist.
The Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis (ICP) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
The Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis (ICP) is a continuing education provider that has been approved by the American Psychological Association, a California Board of Behavioral Sciences recognized approval agency.
No one in the planning or presentation of this activity has any relevant financial relationships with a commercial interest to disclose.
Artwork: “I did not make you sick” (2021) by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya. Poster designed to increase awareness about discrimination and violence against Asian Americans, including COVID-19 related attacks.
