Robert M. Young Online Writings
'Some Reflections on the Psychodynamics of Wealth' 59k
I was invited by the Merseyside Psychotherapy Institute in Liverpool to lead off a series of dayschools on 'The Mystery of Money' the first of which was held on 27 February 1998 and was entitled 'The Construction of Money'. Having devoted a great deal of my scholarly career to studying the social construction of scientific ideas, I felt optimistic about saying something interesting. However, when I got down to preparing the paper, I found the more theoretical aspects of the subject daunting and in some ways impenetrable. I therefore turned largely to reflecting on my own experiences with money and, in particular, wealth and to the experiences of those close to me. The result is something between a clinical paper and a self-examination of my own relations wth the having and the not having of much money. I am very struck by how little psychoanalytic literature there is on the subjects of money and wealth.