Abstract
In this brief paper, the terms “safe space” and “trigger warning” are considered through an engagement with two related concepts: “intersectionality” and “ignorance.” It is proposed that two of the necessary states that make for safe, non-triggering learning environments are “intersectional awareness” and the “expiration of ignorance.” Moreover, while much of the rich literature on the intergenerational transmission of psychological states has focused on the sequelae of trauma, here the intergenerational transmission of psychological strengths is considered too, not only as healthy adaptation but also as a facet of personality that can trigger another person, despite intentions to the contrary.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Crenshaw, K. (1991) Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review 43(6): 1241–1299.
Gentile, J. (2015) Parrhesia, phaedra, and the polis: Anticipating psychoanalytic free association as democratic practice. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly 84(3): 589–624.
Grand, S. (2014) Skin memories: On race, love and loss. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society 19(3): 232–249.
Gump, J.P. (2010) Reality matters: The shadow of trauma on African American subjectivity. Psychoanalytic Psychology 27(1): 42–54.
Hirsch, A.R. (2009) Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago 1940–1960. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Laub, D. (1997) The empty circle: Children of survivors and the limits of reconstruction. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 46(2): 507–529.
Leary, K. (2000) Racial enactments in dynamic treatment. Psychoanalytic Dialogues 10(4): 639–653.
Loewald, H.W. (1960) On the therapeutic action of psycho-analysis. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 41: 16–33.
Reis, B. (2007) Witness to history: Introduction to symposium on transhistorical catastrophe. Psychoanalytic Dialogues 17(5): 621–626.
Safran, J.D. and Muran, J.C. (2000) Negotiating the Therapeutic Alliance: A Relational Treatment Guide. New York: Guilford Press.
Saketopoulou, A. (2014) Trauma lives us: Affective excess, safe spaces and the erasure of subjectivity. Bully Bloggers. https://bullybloggers.wordpress.com/2014/12/06/trauma-lives-us-affective-excess-safe-spaces-and-the-erasure-of-subjectivity/, accessed 19 March 2018.
Spade, D. (2015) Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law. Durham: Duke University Press.
Suchet, M. (2007) Unraveling whiteness. Psychoanalytic Dialogues 17(6): 867–886.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Steinfeld, M. Learning in safety: Intersectional awareness and the expiration of ignorance through its embrace. Psychoanal Cult Soc 23, 211–216 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41282-018-0090-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41282-018-0090-3