Eric Laurent – författare

This book examines the pretensions of the new paradigm in psychology that has put itself forward as the model for the future of the clinical disciplines, thereby seeking to put paid to psychoanalysis. What is this paradigm shift? It goes by the name of cognitive-behaviourism. Where does it come from? From the United States. Until the nineteen-sixties, behavioural psychology had enjoyed a certain prestige in the US. It was later disqualified by the objections from the linguist Noam Chomsky who held that no learning procedure could ever account for linguistic ability. This ability was surely innate, Chomsky argued, and so he set about hunting out the organ of language. Behaviour had to be complemented by a machine for taking cognisance, a machine that was innate and which conformed to the post-Chomskyan model. It took the discipline some thirty years to deck itself out in new clothes. The advances in biology, in neurology, and in the nebula that resulted from them under the 'neuroscience' label, oversaw this change.

George W. Bush came into office only after a bitterly contested election result, but has since proceeded to establish himself as one of the most powerful, and one of the most arrogant, of all American presidents. He has involved the USA in the invasion of two Islamic countries, seems determined to impose global American hegemony, and has launched a ‘war on terror’ which risks perpetuating an unremitting state of crisis. And yet the sources of this enormous power are still shrouded in mystery. He relies on fanatical ideologues, fundamentalist Christians, shady businessmen and right-wing extremists to a degree that will surprise even the most hardened observer. This up-to-the-minute exposé, by the celebrated French reporter Eric Laurent - a specialist in world affairs and the author of the best-selling Bush’s War - provides a scrupulously researched and at times deeply alarming account of a President who risks definitively alienating America from the rest of the world.

George W. Bush came into office only after a bitterly contested election result, but has since proceeded to establish himself as one of the most powerful, and one of the most arrogant, of all American presidents. He has involved the USA in the invasion of two Islamic countries, seems determined to impose global American hegemony, and has launched a ‘war on terror’ which risks perpetuating an unremitting state of crisis. And yet the sources of this enormous power are still shrouded in mystery. He relies on fanatical ideologues, fundamentalist Christians, shady businessmen and right-wing extremists to a degree that will surprise even the most hardened observer. This up-to-the-minute exposé, by the celebrated French reporter Eric Laurent - a specialist in world affairs and the author of the best-selling Bush’s War - provides a scrupulously researched and at times deeply alarming account of a President who risks definitively alienating America from the rest of the world.

This book examines the pretensions of the new paradigm in psychology that has put itself forward as the model for the future of the clinical disciplines, thereby seeking to put paid to psychoanalysis. What is this paradigm shift? It goes by the name of cognitive-behaviourism. Where does it come from? From the United States. Until the nineteen-sixties, behavioural psychology had enjoyed a certain prestige in the US. It was later disqualified by the objections from the linguist Noam Chomsky who held that no learning procedure could ever account for linguistic ability. This ability was surely innate, Chomsky argued, and so he set about hunting out the organ of language. Behaviour had to be complemented by a machine for taking cognisance, a machine that was innate and which conformed to the post-Chomskyan model. It took the discipline some thirty years to deck itself out in new clothes. The advances in biology, in neurology, and in the nebula that resulted from them under the 'neuroscience' label, oversaw this change. Under the name of behavioural-cognitivism, a new reduction of human experience to learning has emerged.Based on the psychoanalysis of Lacanian orientation, this book upholds an opposing thesis. The unconscious does not fall into the "learning" category. It is what is missing from or surplus to any possible learning process. It a mode of thought that is free from both learning and consciousness, and this is what is at once odd and scandalous about it.

George W. Bush kom till makten efter ett sällsynt omstritt presidentval. Likväl har ingen tidigare amerikansk president innehaft så stor makt eller visat så utmanande självsäkerhet. Hans bana rymmer samtidigt en mängd föga kända inslag, oroväckande allianser och tvivelaktiga ekonomiska manipulationer. Denna alldeles färska bok, skriven efter Irakkriget av den franske reportern Eric Laurent, känd i sitt hemland för bästsäljare som “La Guerre des Bushs” och “Guerre du Golfe, le dossier secret”, sprider ljus över rader av utanför USA okända förhållanden med stöd i rikliga källhänvisningar. Vilka styr egentligen USA bakom kulisserna? Är det ideologer, finansiella spekulanter eller religiösa galningar?