PSYCHOLOGIZATION OF NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: THE RHETORIC OF IDENTITY AS A SYMPTOM OF FAMILIAL POWER
Ксения ГОНЧАРОВА, Молдавский государственный университет
Rezumat
Representatives of contemporary social movements – feminism, the LGBT movement, and eco-activism –
increasingly employ the term “identity” in their rhetoric. The paper explores the causes and consequences of modern
social movements using the psychological concept in formulating their demands. The methodological foundation
of the study is based on Jan De Vos’s theory of psychologization and Michel Foucault’s concept of psychiatric
power. Through this analytical lens, the following conclusions are drawn: first, new social movements are subject to
psychologization and operate within the logic of psychological thinking, that is, by the notions of truth and reality
inherent in psychology as a cultural phenomenon; second, despite their opposition to power and culture, they employ
similar governance mechanisms; third, adherence to psychological thinking leads to ideological paradoxes within
contemporary social movements.
Keywords: identity, new social movements, feminism, LGBT, ecological movement, psychologization, psychiatric
power.
