Douglas Thomas

This fascinating volume investigates how the concept of soul is connected to BDSM and kink, exploring the world of alternative sexualities through the psychology of C. G. Jung and James Hillman as readers are guided on a provocative and lively journey through darker aspects of the sexual imagination. Contextualized both in sexual history and contemporary events, the book unveils surprising points of correspondence between the tortured fantasy-images of Jung’s The Red Book and the modern world of BDSM and describes from Hillman’s psychology a soul-centered perspective that affirms the psychological value of fantasy-images animating our human lives. The book also considers the collective archetypal sources of historical trauma which have provided inspiration to some of the more disquieting aspects of BDSM and details how the deep psychology of BDSM creates a space in the modern world to ethically engage these practices. Kinksters and BDSM practitioners will discover a psychological language that clarifies and affirms why these activities and relationships can be so intensely intimate, pleasurable, and transformative. Psychotherapists and enthusiasts of Jungian and archetypal psychology will find fresh insights here that support the practice of BDSM as a form of individuation and a path for bringing soul into the world.

This fascinating volume investigates how the concept of soul is connected to BDSM and kink, exploring the world of alternative sexualities through the psychology of C. G. Jung and James Hillman as readers are guided on a provocative and lively journey through darker aspects of the sexual imagination. Contextualized both in sexual history and contemporary events, the book unveils surprising points of correspondence between the tortured fantasy-images of Jung’s The Red Book and the modern world of BDSM and describes from Hillman’s psychology a soul-centered perspective that affirms the psychological value of fantasy-images animating our human lives. The book also considers the collective archetypal sources of historical trauma which have provided inspiration to some of the more disquieting aspects of BDSM and details how the deep psychology of BDSM creates a space in the modern world to ethically engage these practices. Kinksters and BDSM practitioners will discover a psychological language that clarifies and affirms why these activities and relationships can be so intensely intimate, pleasurable, and transformative. Psychotherapists and enthusiasts of Jungian and archetypal psychology will find fresh insights here that support the practice of BDSM as a form of individuation and a path for bringing soul into the world.

»Det lärande som kommer att definiera det tjugoförsta århundradet äger inte rum i klassrum ? i alla fall inte i dagens klassrum. Istället äger det rum överallt omkring oss. Vi kallar detta fenomen för den nya lärandekulturen, och den bottnar i en väldigt enkel fråga: Vad händer med lärandet när vi går från 1900-talets stabila infrastruktur till 2000-talets flytande infrastruktur, där ny teknologi hela tiden genererar, och förhåller sig till, förändring? ? Svaret är överraskande enkelt. Den obevekligt snabba förändring som har fått oss att mista fotfästet är ironiskt nog också vårt största hopp. En växande digital och nätverksbaserad infrastruktur stärker vår förmåga att använda oss av nästan obegränsade resurser och otroliga verktyg, samtidigt som vi får kontakt med andra människor.» Så skriver Douglas Thomas och John Seely Brown i inledningen till denna inspirerande bok om en ny lärandekultur. En lärandekultur som framför allt baserar sig på en ständigt förnyelsebar mänsklig resurs: fantasin.

Douglas Thomas offers an in-depth history of this important and fascinating subculture, contrasting mainstream images of hackers with a detailed firsthand account of the computer underground. Thomas studies novels and films (Neuromancer, WarGames, Hackers, and The Matrix) and reveals contemporary views of hackers as technological wizards, high-tech pranksters, and virtual criminals. Thomas then examines the court cases of Kevin Mitnick and Chris Lamprecht to determine how hackers are defined as criminals. Thomas finds that popular hacker stereotypes express the public’s anxieties about the information age far more than they do the reality of hacking.