Juliet Mitchell

Two Talks on Violence, Power, and the Social Fabric 

Talk 1 - Juliet Mitchell on The Law of the Mother

Seminar description:

Join us as we host two of the most influential psychoanalytic theorists of the modern era, Juliet Mitchell and Jessica Benjamin.

BEYOND THE OEDIPAL COMPLEX: SIBLING DYNAMICS AND THE LAW OF THE MOTHER. Join us for a discussion with Professor Juliet Mitchell on her landmark model of early development, Sibling Trauma and the Law of the Mother. Expanding the vertical framework of the Oedipal complex, she introduces a lateral axis centered on sibling relationships. She presents the “Law of the Mother” — the maternal prohibition against sibling violence and competition that is the basis for social equality among peers. Professor Mitchell will discuss with us how this horizontal shift reconfigures our understanding of unconscious relational dynamics, exploring its relevance both within clinical spaces and for interpreting current global controversies.

About the Speaker:

Professor Juliet Mitchell FBA is internationally recognised for her pioneering work in psychoanalytic feminism. She is Professor Emerita and founding director of the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her work centrally informed second-wave feminist theory by integrating Freudian psychoanalytic thought. Expanding the traditional Oedipal model, she introduced a lateral paradigm that explores how sibling dynamics, childhood violence, and the “law of the mother” shape the human psyche.