Parker systematically reviews the key psychoanalytic theories to reveal social processes and their significance to modern life: Freud and object relations theory is directed towards group processes, religion and war; the Frankfurt School is used to examine modern individuality, authoritarianism and changes in culture; and the Lacanian tradition to account for language, representation and self-improvement. The theoretical analysis incorporates throughout the volume the work of key figures ranging from Adorno, Habermas and Fromm to Klein, Kristeva, Winnicott and Zizek.