Review of Alison Stone, Feminism, Psychoanalysis and Maternal Subjectivity

In Feminism, Psychoanalysis, and Maternal Subjectivity, Alison Stone considers the idea that the rejection of the maternal is integral to the development of subjectivity. She argues that to become a modern subject has meant to be an autonomous, independent agent, largely free of dependency on others, and therefore separated from one's mother. This means that maternal subjectivity has arisen in the paradoxical position of needing to both create and reject a maternal identity. Her analysis is situated within the contemporary context, considering the impact that culture has on psyche. She draws primarily from psychoanalytic theory, from the classical to the contemporary feminist.