Foreword for publication

PSYCHOANALYSIS DURING THE PANDEMIC

Abstract

The idea of this publication arose from discussion of Michael Rustin's report "The Coronavirus Pandemic and Its Significance" at the online conference of the Ukrainian Psychoanalytic Society "Psychic Changes and Social Upheavals" (November 2020). I responded to the report with my commentary "Improving the Institution: A Commentary on Michael Rustin's Report, the speeches caused a lively response from the conference participants, and then Michael and I continued to discuss some of them in correspondence. Among them were such as the "uneven development" of modern times; the state of societies and states that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the "socialist camp"; the importance of psychoanalytic theory and methodology for social research; transformations of sexuality in the modern world... As you can see, the discussion went far beyond the pandemic topic, although its shadow hovered over the conversation, giving it a certain form of "thinking under fire" (Bion).