The presence of both narcissism and social capital in the digital social networking site Facebook is altering the dynamic of relationship development. Therefore, the central research question directing this study is as follows: What role do narcissistic personality traits play in bridging social capital on Facebook? From this, two sub-questions are raised: 1) What are the motives for users to express narcissistic traits through Facebook? 2) How is narcissistic-motivated activity influencing social capital development through Facebook? Guiding this thesis are concepts of social tie relationships (as they apply to narcissism), and digital social networks. An exploratory study of in-depth interviews was utilized to conduct such research. A key objective in this thesis is understanding motive and purpose for generating social capital in an online environment. The findings from this study suggest Facebook is a facilitator for the expression of narcissistic traits. As a result, this is influencing the disconnected and questionable value of digital social capital.

En retraçant le parcours intellectuel de l’historien, moraliste et critique américain Christopher Lasch, ce mémoire vise à mettre en exergue la pertinence et les subtilités de sa pensée politique. Sur la base d’une analyse de ses principaux textes, nous démontrerons, qu’au-delà du pessimisme et du catastrophisme qui lui sont généralement attribués, Lasch porte un regard fécond sur la singularité de l’époque contemporaine. Nous soutiendrons que ses critiques acerbes sur la société et l’individu sont faites, avant tout, dans le but de remédier aux carences morales et sociétales qui auraient engendré un certain idéal libéral progressiste. Selon Lasch, le déploiement continu et illimité de cet idéal est en dissonance avec le caractère essentiellement contingent et conflictuel de la condition humaine. Parallèlement, nous présenterons les incidences psychiques qui se traduisent par une « culture du narcissisme » suscitée notamment par diverses composantes de la société contemporaine. À travers une relecture de la condition humaine, Lasch préconise un correctif idéologique qui est axé sur les notions de limites et d’espoir et qui se trouve au sein de la tradition agraire populiste américaine du 19e siècle. Nous démontrerons ainsi comment ce retour en arrière est entamé dans le but de susciter un renouveau politique et identitaire au sein de la société. L’étude se conclura par une discussion sur la plausibilité de l’idéal populiste, tel que l’entend Lasch, à l’ère du 21e siècle. / By retracing the intellectual journey of the historian, moralist, and American critic Christopher Lasch, this paper aims to highlight the relevance of his critical thought. Based on an analysis of his main texts, it is demonstrated that, rather than the pessimism and catastrophism that is often identified with him, Lasch has a fruitful perspective on the uniqueness of the modern era. His trenchant criticisms of contemporary society and of the individual in it address, first and foremost, the moral and social deficiencies that he believes has been caused by the progressive ideal of liberalism. According to Lasch, the assertion of this ideal is incompatible with the essentially contingent and conflicting nature of the human condition. In parallel, the psychological effects which result from what Lasch calls the “culture of narcissism” will be examined as will Lasch’es alternative, which is based on the notions of limits and hope found in the American agrarian populist tradition of the 19th century. Lasch believes that we must engage in this turn to the past in order to bring out a political renewal of society. The study concludes with a discussion of the plausibility of the populist ideal in the 21st century.

Ce travail de thèse propose d’approfondir la compréhension de l’anorexie de l’adolescente à partir d’une méthodologie projective (Rorschach et T.A.T.).Il révèle notamment la présence d’une instabilité des frontières du Moi et un dépassement insuffisant des conflits prégénitaux venant influer sur la construction du féminin et favoriser le recours à des défenses de type phalliques narcissiques permettant d’éviter tout autant le vécu de séparation que celui de dépendance.Ce travail met par ailleurs en évidence un traitement singulier des fantasmes de séduction marqué par un renversement de la construction hystérique, l’insuffisance du refoulement et l’impossibilité à investir une position passive venant entraîner un vécu spécifique marqué par une exacerbation des angoisses persécutives qui paraît liée au caractère insuffisamment sécurisé des frontières propres et à la difficulté de régulation de l’excitation pulsionnelle.Dans son approche différentielle, ce travail révèle également chez les patientes présentant un profil restrictif une plus grande efficience des défenses narcissiques en comparaison des patientes présentant un tableau d’anorexie-boulimie où la problématique de porosité des enveloppes et les difficultés de maniement pulsionnel se dévoilent davantage. Les problématiques mobilisées paraissent néanmoins semblables. L’apport de cette recherche se situe davantage dans la mise en évidence de mouvements de clivage au Moi pouvant conduire à deux types d’aménagements distincts venant s’exercer soit sur un mode persécutif, soit sur un mode adhésif, avec une influence sur le type de structuration psychique de ces adolescentes se révélant indépendante des formes symptomatiques tout en pouvant correspondre à deux temps distincts de la maladie. / This paper attempts to go further into female teen anorexia from the perspective of a projective methodology. It brings particularly to light the presence of a blurred frontier of the Ego and an insufficient expansion of pregenital conflicts which affects the construction of the feminine and facilitates resorting to a narcissistic phallic type of defense which helps avoid the experience of separation as much as that of dependency.This paper brings further to light a particular handling of seduction fantasies marked by a reversal of hysterical construction, insufficient repression and the impossibility to invest a passive position. This leads to a specific real life experience marked by an exacerbation of persecution anxiety which seem to be linked to both the insufficiently secured nature of instinctive excitation and the difficulty to regulate it. From its differential approach, this paper also highlights a better efficiency of narcissist defense in those female patients presenting a restrictive profile compared with those presenting anorexia-bulimia stigmas where porosity of envelopes and difficulty of handling drive are more apparent. However, the issues raised appear to be similar.This research paper brings brings further highlight to the cleavage process phenomenon in the Ego leading of anorectic patients to two distinctive types of psychic adjustments which expresses itself either on a persecution mode or adhesive one. This in turn has an influence on the type of psychic structures in female teens which turn out to be independent from symptomatic forms while they may at the same time correspond to two different stages of the illness.

[pt] Este trabalho, através de um percurso crítico das principais contribuições teóricas da psicanálise sobre a depressão, defende a importância de se delimitar a neurose depressiva, como uma das neuroses com que nos deparamos freqüentemente na clínica. O narcisismo é um conceito crucial neste quadro, e é considerado aqui como uma estrutura permanente. Nesta perspectiva é a tensão entre o ideal do eu e o eu que desbalanceada vai provocar uma quebra narcísica,abrindo as portas para o acosso da pulsão de morte, que invade o eu que é engolfado pela depressão. Valoriza-se também a recusa à perda (Verleugnung) como um operador essencial da depressão, uma vez que uma corrente do psquismo aceita a perda, mas outra, inconsciente, a recusa. Discute-se a idéia de que, diante de uma perda significativa, dois destinos são possíveis: a elaboração do luto ou a melancolia e, defende-se que são vários os destinos possíveis de um luto, incluindo-se as neuroses de angústia, depressões e compulsões. Uma vez que a depressão ocupa, em termos de incidência, o lugar que a histeria ocupava na época de Freud, considera- se os laços dessa patologia com as modificações da organização social características da atualidade e, para justificar que acontecimentos recentes dolorosos provocam parcialmente a neurose depressiva, recorre-se à teoria sobre o trauma, concebendo-o como o que provoca uma injúria narcísica capaz de causar um desinvestimento no eu. / [en] The objective of this thesis is to provide a systematic study of the depressive neuroses by reviewing and evaluating the main theoretical psychoanalytic contributions on this subject. Narcissism is a crucial concept, and is considered here as a permanent structure. In this perspective it is the increased tension between the ego ideal and the ego that provokes a narcissistic break, and as a consequence of this, the death impulse invades the ego, which succumbs to depression. The concept of denial (Verleugnung) is considered as an essential operator for depression, for one psychic current accepts the loss but the other, unconscious, disavowels it. Facing the argument that when there is a significant loss, two outcomes are possible: the elaboration of mourning or the melancholy, we defend instead,that several outcomes are possible after a loss, including the neuroses of anguish, depressions and compulsions. Today depression occupies the place that hysteria occupied at the time of Freud, so the links between depression and the modern social changes are studied. To prove that recent painful events can also provoke, at least partially, a depressive neurosis, the theory of trauma is evoked. A major concept discussed is the capability of trauma to establish a narcissistic wound that causes a discontinuity in the ego.

Die Dissertation präsentiert ein konzeptuelles Rahmenmodell zur Untersuchung von Narzissmus in sozialen Interaktionen. Es differenziert zwischen situations-invarianten (z.B. Narzissmus) und situations-variierenden Variablen (z.B. positives Feedback) zur Vorhersage narzisstischen Verhaltens. Es bildete die Grundlage für drei Studien entlang der Zeitlinie von sozialen Interaktionen (d.h., zu Beginn, im täglichen Verlauf, innerhalb von langjährigen Freundschaften). Studie 1 untersuchte, ob sich der Einfluss von Narzissmus in Situationen reduziert, die starke Hinweisreize für die Angemessenheit von Selbstdarstellung beinhalten, wie die Trait Activation Theory (Tett & Burnett, 2003) vermuten würde. Es wurde geschlussfolgert, dass der grandiose Kern von Narzissmus unempfindlich gegenüber dem Einfluss situations-variierender Variablen war (hinsichtlich der Reizstärke für Selbstdarstellung). Studie 2 erforschte Narzissmus innerhalb sozialer Interaktionen im Alltag mit Hilfe eines experience-sampling Designs in drei aufeinander aufbauenden Teilstudien. Im Gegensatz zu den Befunden aus Studie 1 zeigten die Ergebnisse der zweiten Studie, dass es einen starken situativen Einfluss auf die Expression von State Narzissmus gab - unabhängig vom individuellen Narzissmus-Niveau. Zum Beispiel erhöhten sowohl positives als auch negatives Feedback das State Narzissmus Level aufgrund von Selbsterhöhungs- oder Selbstschutzmechanismen. Die Ergebnisse stellen die Rolle von Trait Selbstwert auf State Narzissmus infrage, unterstreichen aber die Wichtigkeit von State Selbstwert. Studie 3 demonstrierte, dass mit einer zunehmenden distinktiven Ähnlichkeit (d.h., die Ähnlichkeit in den normabweichenden Aspekten der beiden Freunde) im Narzissmus zweier bester Freunde die distinktive Ähnlichkeit in deren Big Five Profilen ebenfalls ansteigt. Es werden Implikationen für situations-spezifische Aspekte von Narzissmus innerhalb von langjährigen Freundschaften diskutiert. / The present dissertation presents a conceptual framework for the study of narcissism in social interactions (NARCissism In Situations: NARCIS). This framework differentiates between situation-invariant variables (e.g., trait narcissism) and situation-varying variables (e.g., positive feedback) for the prediction of narcissistic behavior. It built the theoretical basis for three studies that were placed along the time line of social interactions (i.e., at the beginning, in the daily intercourse, and within long-term friendships). Study 1 examined whether the manifestation of individual differences in narcissism reduce in situations that include strong cues for the appropriateness of self-promotional behavior, as trait activation theory (Tett & Burnett, 2003) would expect. It was concluded that the grandiose core of narcissism was insensitive to the influence of situation-varying variables in terms of cue strength for self-promotion. Study 2 investigated narcissism within social interactions in everyday life following an experience-sampling design in three consecutive substudies. In contrast to the findings from the first study, results of Study 2 showed that there was a strong situational influence on the expression of state narcissism - regardless of the individual’s narcissism trait level. For example, both negative social feedback and positive feedback increased state narcissism levels due to ego protection or ego boosting mechanisms. The results question the role of trait self-esteem but underscore the importance of state self-esteem on state narcissism. Last but not least, Study 3 demonstrated that with increasing distinctive similarity (i.e., the similarity in the two friends’ norm-deviating parts) in narcissism of two best friends’ their distinctive similarities in their Big Five profiles augmented as well. Implications for situation-specific aspects of narcissism within long-term friendships are discussed.

This study examined how narcissism affects preadolescent children's choices of peer targets for aggression. Based on the idea that narcissists have a grandiose sense of self that requires nourishment, we hypothesized that narcissistic children are especially likely to attack peers who threaten, or fail to nourish, their grandiose self. We assessed narcissism and the degree to which each child's aggression toward peers depended on (a) the child's perceived liking by each peer, (b) the child's liking of each peer, (c) each peer's actual liking of the child, and (d) the child's perceived similarity to each peer. Participants were 197 children in the fourth through eighth grades at a university school. Narcissism predicted the four types of target-specific aggression in disparate ways for boys and girls. Narcissistic boys were especially likely to direct aggression toward male peers whom (a) they perceived as disliking them, (b) they disliked, and (c) they perceived as dissimilar to themselves. Narcissistic girls were especially likely to attack female peers whom they perceived as similar to themselves. Narcissism may enhance different motives for boys and girls in same-sex peer relatinships. We propose that narcissism enhances investment in status and rivalry amoung girls while enhancing the motive to attack dissimilar peers among boys. / by Chelsie Anderson. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-08-29T11:32:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Carla Cristine Souza de Almeida.pdf: 766081 bytes, checksum: 1c7c325b58b455869537c02fb2bbdd53 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-29T11:32:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carla Cristine Souza de Almeida.pdf: 766081 bytes, checksum: 1c7c325b58b455869537c02fb2bbdd53 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-10 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This dissertation analyses if narcissism can be considered a contemporary sin and, therefore, creates a category of behavior. In order to answer central questions: who Nelson Rodrigues was and what the importance of his work is for a declining society, if narcissism can be considered a contemporary sin and if the reading of Rodrigues’ plays reveals us a miserable and misfortune human condition, leading us not to live narcissism as a contemporary sin. The hypothesis is while having clarity of the “life as it is”, of its own tragedy, the reading of Nelson Rodrigues’ plays - Álbum de família; Otto Lara Resende ou Bonitinha, mas ordinária; and Toda nudez será castigada – selected for this study, opens the possibility of leaving the suffering behind, and on that account, living with the courage to have a position free of identifications and thus, living a space of desire. The general objective or the background is to identify if in the subjectivity of the contemporary man, amid his anguishes, his peculiar way of acting and living could become a type of contemporary sin, or: “narcissism updated to the 21st century”. And also think that reading Nelson Rodrigues’ plays, there is a possibility of the man to have a life with less narcissistic identifications, freeing himself from such suffering. Three plays are analyzed and other texts can shed a light on a possible exit from this type of behavior. Nobody is free from narcissism, everybody needs a little bit of it to wake up and look in the mirror every day, not count one day less in one’s life, but: get up, work, live, eat, have fun, love, cry, fight. So, this narcissism makes us live our lives because what makes us dull is its excess, the thing that goes with you, without limits, to an abyss without name nor place / Esta dissertação analisa se o narcisismo pode ser considerado como pecado contemporâneo, e deste modo, cria uma categoria de comportamento a fim de responder a três perguntas centrais: quem foi Nelson Rodrigues e qual a importância de sua obra para uma sociedade em declínio; se o narcisismo pode ser considerado um pecado contemporâneo; e se a leitura das peças rodrigueanas nos revela uma condição humana miserável e desgraçada, isto nos levaria a não habitarmos o narcisismo como pecado contemporâneo. Tendo como hipótese que ao se ter a clareza da “vida como ela é”, de sua própria tragédia, a leitura das peças rodrigueanas – Álbum de família; Otto Lara Resende ou Bonitinha, mas ordinária; e Toda nudez será castigada –, selecionadas para este estudo, abre a possibilidade de saída do sofrimento e, em vista disso, de viver com a coragem para assumir uma posição mais livre das identificações e, por conseguinte, habitar um espaço de desejo. O pano de fundo ou objetivo geral é identificar se na subjetividade do homem contemporâneo, em meio a suas angústias, seu modo peculiar de agir e de viver poderia se tornar uma espécie de pecado contemporâneo, dito de outro modo, um “narcisismo atualizado para o século XXI”. E, assim, pensar se com a leitura da obra de Nelson Rodrigues há uma possibilidade de o indivíduo ter uma vida com menos identificações narcísicas e, assim, libertar-se de tamanho sofrimento. Atravessa-se as três peças de Nelson Rodrigues e outros textos para trazer luz a uma possível saída deste modo de comportamento. Ninguém está livre do narcisismo, todos precisamos de um pouco dele para levantar e se olhar no espelho diariamente, não contar um dia a menos de vida ao acordar, mas, sim, levantar, trabalhar, viver, se alimentar, se divertir, amar, chorar, brigar. Enfim, este narcisismo nos faz viver a vida, pois o que nos embota é o seu excesso, aquilo que vai sem limite com você para um abismo sem nome e sem lugar

Este trabalho trata da trajetória do conceito de superego na teoria freudiana desde o momento que os primeiros indícios de sua existência emergiram na clínica da histeria em 1892 até a segunda tópica em 1923, quando esta noção foi formalmente inserida na psicanálise, constituindo um dos pilares do aparelho psíquico ao lado do id e do ego. Para tanto a autora percorreu 1) as experiências pessoais e auto-analíticas de Freud descritas por seus biógrafos e por ele mesmo em sua extensa correspondência com Fliess, e também ao longo de seu livro A interpretação dos sonhos, que na verdade é uma valiosa peça autobiográfica; 2) a percepção de Freud dos fenômenos superegóicos relatados em alguns de seus casos clínicos desde a pré-história da psicanálise; e 3) a teoria psicanalítica, sendo que o foco principal foi o período de investigação conduzido por Freud entre os anos de 1892 e 1923. Ao longo deste estudo foram ressaltados os principais atributos, a natureza, as origens e as funções que o superego desempenha no psiquismo humano e concluiu-se que o superego, por conta de seu vínculo com a pulsão de morte, de sua militância no id e de sua ascendência nos conflitos incestuosos e parricidas do complexo de Édipo, é uma estrutura psíquica por natureza violenta e cruel. Uma vez que a participação do superego é estrutural na organização psíquica, cabe ao ego controlar sua fúria, defendendo o psiquismo de seus ataques destrutivos. / This paper follows the trajectory of the concept of the superego in Freudian theory from the first signs of its development in 1892 trough hysteria clinic, to the point in 1923 when it was formally incorporated in his psychoanalysis, forming one of the pillars of the psychical apparatus next to the ego and the id. To achieve this objective, the author examined 1) Freuds personal and auto-analytical experiences as described by his biographers and by himself in both his book The Interpretation of Dreams and in the long and intense correspondence with Wilhelm Fliess; 2) Freuds perceptions of the superegos role in the human psyche as described in some of his clinical cases; and 3) psychoanalytic theory, focused mainly on Freuds work between 1892 and 1923. The author aimed to highlight the main features, the nature, the origins and the functions that the superego performs in the human psyche and concluded that the superego, because of its close link with the death drive, its confrontational relationship with the id and its emergence in the incestuous and parricidal conflicts of the Oedipus complex, is by nature a cruel and violent psychical structure. Given the superegos structural participation in the psychical mechanism, it is up to the ego to control its wrath, defending itself from the destructive assault of the superego.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:39:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-05-16 / The investigation theme of the present clinical research in psychoanalysis is the study of the difficult psychical condition presented by a few people after facing the loss of a loved one, subject that has interested me for a long time. During my clinical practice, I ve noticed that many patients came looking for treatment in a fragile psychical condition and in a depressive state which was very difficult to overcome, and most of the time these people had already been suffering for years. It was necessary to investigate the type of the loss that was manifested by these patients, who seemed to be unable to deal with the mourning and to elaborate it; this investigation led to the study of the nature and the conditions of the bond between the patient and the loved one, considered to be so absolutely indispensable. The clinical research was oriented by the initial hypothesis supposing that in these patients not only a regression had occurred, but a dismantlement of the defensive scheme built by the self with the purpose of maintaining, in an underlying and disguised way, the gaps in the psychical structuration of the individual. Consequently, the collapse originated from the objectal loss, either if it was due to death, end of relationship or a great disappointment towards the loved one, put the unsolved conflicts with the primary object in the foreground. The methodology applied was the construction of a clinical case, focusing on the metapsychology in germ that was presented by it, simultaneously with a research in Fundamental Psychopathology. The investigation was mainly based on the psychoanalytical concepts of S. Freud, M. Klein and D. W. Winnicott, due to the perspective they offered for the study of the impossible mourning and the consequent state of personal ruin in which the studied patient found herself. In other words, the study of the notions of narcissism, identificatory process and the characteristics of the mourning process was imperative. As a result, it was possible to verify that the melancholic access which produced suicidal ideas in the patient was related not only to her objectal losses, but mainly to her narcissistic losses that couldn t be psychically elaborated, due to the gaps that existed since the primary stages of her subjective constitution / O tema de investigação desta pesquisa clínica em psicanálise é o estudo da difícil condição psíquica de algumas pessoas após enfrentarem a perda junto a um ser amado, tema que há algum tempo despertava meu interesse de estudo. Na prática clínica pude conferir que pacientes se apresentavam para atendimento em séria condição psíquica e em estado depressivo de difícil superação, o que por vezes vinha se estendendo havia anos. Era necessário investigar a característica da perda que os revelava sem sustentação interna para enfrentar e concluir o luto, o que conduziu ao estudo da natureza e das condições do vínculo com esse ser amado, sentido como tão absolutamente necessário. A pesquisa clínica realizada norteou-se pela hipótese inicial de que nestes pacientes teria ocorrido não apenas uma regressão, mas uma desmontagem do esquema defensivo erigido pelo eu com o propósito de manter, de modo subjacente e acobertado, as falhas da estruturação psíquica do sujeito. Assim, o colapso a partir da perda objetal, fosse por morte, ruptura ou grande decepção com o ser amado, colocava em primeiro plano os conflitos não superados junto ao objeto primário. A metodologia utilizada foi a construção de um caso clínico, a fim de buscar a metapsicologia em germe que ali se encontrava, consonante com uma pesquisa no âmbito da Psicopatologia Fundamental. A investigação teve por base, fundamentalmente, os esquemas conceituais psicanalíticos de S. Freud, M. Klein e D.W. Winnicott, pela perspectiva que ofereciam para o estudo do luto impossível e o conseqüente estado de ruína pessoal em que a paciente estudada se encontrava. Deste modo, foi imperativo o estudo de noções como o narcisismo, o processo identificatório e as características do processo de luto. Como resultado, foi possível conferir que o acometimento melancólico que produzia idéias suicidas na paciente encontrava-se relacionado não apenas a perdas objetais, mas ainda mais primordiais eram as perdas narcísicas sem chances de elaboração psíquica, em função das falhas desde os estágios primitivos de sua constituição subjetiva

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:30:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Eliane Domingues.pdf: 989732 bytes, checksum: a5bd8b3041050b79f7a9a52631b7c84a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-10-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / MST was officially founded in 1984 and is nowadays present at 23 states and the federal district. It involves nearly 1.5 million people and about 400 thousand are at camps. Its main aims, since the foundation, are: fighting for land, fighting for land reform, and fighting for a more fraternal and fair society (MST, 2009). Having passed more than 25 years of existence, many conquered their land, but land reform and the desired social transformations, ideals that move militants, are still far from achievement. Before this context, this research has asked: how do militants experience the distance between current society and the society they fight for, which is equal and fraternal to all? How do they experience the tension between living in a capitalist society supporting socialist values and ideals? How is tension between demanding and charges from collective (MST) and the ideals (social and psychic ambits) present at militants‟ everyday life? These questions were formulated from what the MST militants themselves present as being the dilemmas they face and they constitute as object of research of this thesis. The theoretical reference adopted was psychoanalysis and research methodology psychoanalytical intervention research. It was built on Freud‟s idea (2007/1927) that some classes, groups, and subjects pay more‟ sacrifice to live in the culture and developed the hypothesis that the militant, for not accepting this more‟ of sacrifice imposed by his class, ends up paying more‟ for his militant condition, what does not simply mean exchange this more‟ sacrifice for other, as new sacrifices are paid with a social place inside MST and with the possibility of a subject narcissistic revitalization, that is, they are paid with more‟ satisfaction enabled by ideals adhesion. In order to the ideals keep moving the subjects, it is necessary that between them and the current state of the subject or society always exist some distance. Something should always be missing so that the desire keeps flowing, but what misses to the subjects not be woeful, is to be based on a future project, some hope. This is what MST does: offer to subjects a future Project, a hope. Its militants afford the desire that moves them, but always bet on it, even if it costs them a pound of flesh / O Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) foi fundado oficialmente em 1984 e atualmente está presente em 23 estados e no Distrito Federal. Envolve cerca de 1,5 milhão de pessoas, das quais aproximadamente 400 mil estão em acampamentos. Seus principais objetivos, desde sua fundação, são: lutar pela terra, lutar pela reforma agrária e lutar por uma sociedade mais justa e fraterna . (MST, 2009). Passados mais de 25 anos de existência do MST, muitos conquistaram a terra, mas a reforma agrária e as almejadas transformações sociais, ideais que movem os militantes, ainda estão longe da concretização. Diante deste contexto, nesta pesquisa indagou-se: como os militantes vivenciam a distância entre a sociedade atual e a sociedade pela qual eles lutam, uma sociedade justa e fraterna para todos? Como os militantes vivenciam a tensão existente entre viver em uma sociedade capitalista sustentando valores e ideais socialistas? Como se faz presente no cotidiano dos militantes a tensão existente entre as exigências e cobranças do coletivo (MST) e do próprio sujeito (supereu) e os ideais (sociais e instância psíquica)? Estas questões foram formuladas a partir do que os próprios militantes do MST apresentaram como sendo os dilemas que eles enfrentam em seu cotidiano e constituem o objeto de investigação dessa tese. Os referenciais teóricos adotados foram a psicanálise e a metodologia de pesquisa pesquisa-intervenção psicanalítica. Partiu-se da ideia de Freud (1927) de que algumas classes, grupos e sujeitos pagam um a mais de sacrifício para viver na cultura e desenvolveu-se a hipótese de que o militante, ao não aceitar o a mais de sacrifício imposto para sua classe, acaba pagando um a mais por sua condição de militante, o que não significa apenas trocar um a mais de sacrifício por outro, pois os novos sacrifícios são pagos com um lugar social dentro do MST e com a possibilidade de uma revitalização narcísica dos sujeitos, ou seja, são pagos com um a mais de satisfação possibilitada pela adesão a ideais. Para que os ideais continuem movendo os sujeitos, é necessário que entre eles e o estado atual − seja do sujeito seja da sociedade sempre deve existir uma distância. Algo sempre deve faltar para que o desejo siga seu curso, mas o que falta para os sujeitos não serem lançados na angústia deve-se ancorar em um projeto de futuro, em uma esperança. É isto que faz o MST: oferece aos sujeitos, um projeto de futuro, uma esperança. Seus militantes pagam o preço pelo desejo que os move, mas nem por isto deixam de apostar no desejo, mesmo que lhes custe uma libra de carne