Patriotic Attachment, Libidinal Economy, and Cosmopolitan Citizenship: A Qualified Defense of Patriotic Love

Abstract

Terms such as â fascistâ and â naziâ retain light and even comical currency in contemporary pop culture despite the gravity of the events that produced them. Departing from this common usage, I consider within political and psychoanalytic frameworks the normative effects common understandings of fascism and totalitarianism exercise vis-a-vis collective attachments (patriotism, nationalism), and specifically how this discourse shapes notions of citizenship. Working within this political-psychoanalytic model, I analyze the substance behind Barack Obamaâ s Presidential campaign themes of hope and change by way of his Inaugural Address in relation to that of George W. Bush. I conclude by engaging the discourse on cosmopolitan citizenship, considering both how it fits into the framework developed for this project and the relation of Obamaâ s understandings of citizenship and foreign policy to cosmpolitanism.