Radical Revenge: Shame, Blame and the Urge for Retaliation (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781911383475)

We all know what it's like to want revenge, but where does that urge come from? Why is it so hard to give up? And why can some people only satisfy it through extreme and brutal acts? In her new book, RADICAL REVENGE, Ren馥 Danziger draws on psychoanalytic thinking to offer a fresh perspective on revenge. Examining some of the most egregious examples of revenge in contemporary society Danziger discusses and develops the concept of radical revenge. Deliberating mass shootings, internet trolling, revenge porn, and contemporary populist politics, she draws on psychoanalytic ideas about shame, envy, and thin-skinned narcissism to discuss why some people feel compelled to engage in destructive acts of radical revenge.

Linking revenge to an instinct for self-preservation, the book suggests that the urge for revenge relates to the need to protect one's sense of self. Noting paediatrician and psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott's observation of a crude form of revenge in young infants, the book examines the idea that what starts out as a body-based sense of self becomes more complex as the infant develops into a child and then adult.