‘The blighted germs of heterosexual tendencies’: reading Freud in (be)hindsight

Abstract

AbstractThis paper argues for an understanding of Freud's ‘queer’ contributions to social psychology, and posits the ongoing utility of psychoanalysis for developing social psychological approaches to understanding both same‐sex attracted identities and heteronormativity. Through an elaboration of two key areas of Freud's work, namely his implicit critiques of heteronormativity and his explicit support for the rights of those who do not identify as heterosexual, I propose that the problematic aspects of psychoanalytic theory must be placed alongside the considerable gains to be made from the application of Freud's work to theorising within social psychology. In particular, I suggest that the understandings of identity and desire as formulated through psychoanalysis demonstrate the always already queer nature of social psychology through its engagement with psychoanalysis. I conclude by highlighting the ongoing tools that a psychoanalytic social psychology may provide for challenging heteronormativity and privileging non‐normative accounts of subjectivity. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.