Joanna Kellond

My research takes place at the intersections between psychoanalytic theory, Critical Theory, cultural theory and feminist philosophy. I have a particular interest in the philosophy, theory, politics and aesthetics of care, and the contribution that psychoanalytic understandings of subjectivity can make to academic knowledge in this area. This research focus is evident in my monograph, Donald Winnicott and the Politics of Care, published in the Palgrave Macmillan series, Studies in the Psychosocial, in 2022. In this project, I investigated what the work of psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott can contribute to understanding, as well as addressing, the crisis of care at the heart of contemporary society.

More broadly, my research interests centre on the relationship between psychoanalysis, culture and society. I am interested in exploring psychoanalytic thinking as a critical discourse in the Humanities, and as both a product, and active agent, of social and cultural change. I have an interest in the relationship between psychoanalysis, as theory and practice, and social justice; the politics of mental health; and the politics of reproduction and care. Theoretically, my work draws on Freudian, Lacanian, object relations and relational approaches to psychoanalysis, as well as Critical Theory; feminist theory; gender studies; and cultural studies. Much of my research to date has explored the knots that bind psychoanalytic thinking to cultural practices and social processes.

I welcome PhD projects related to any of my research interests. I am particularly interested in working on projects related to the work of Donald Winnicott; feminist psychoanalytic theory and philosophy; and the politics of care. More broadly, I am interested in working on projects related to psychoanalysis as it intersects with cultural, social and political questions and debates. This includes studies focused on literature, visual culture, Critical Theory, philosophy, history or politics. I am also interested in supervising projects in the field of Critical Theory that relate to the themes of care, reproduction, gender or feminism.