Professor Lisa Baraitser
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Overview
Overview
Biography
I joined Birkbeck in 2005, and have been involved in the development of the field of Psychosocial Studies ever since.
I hold degrees in Medical Science and Psychology (BSc., Hons), Counselling and Psychotherapy (MA), and Psychology (PhD) and I am a trained psychodynamic counsellor and a psychoanalyst (M. Inst. Psychoanal).
Between 1995 and 2005 I worked in a range of mental health settings that focused on the psychological ramifications of violence, abuse and poverty in the lives of women. During this time I was also the Artistic Director of an experimental theatre collective.
Since 2005, I have been an interdisciplinary research scholar working at the interface between psychoanalytic and social theory, and qualitative empirical research. My research brings psychoanalytic and social theory together to address the temporal, ethical and affective dimensions of care. My current research is on time and healthcare.
Highlights
I am currently co-Principal Investigator with Professor Laura Salisbury on Waiting Times, a Wellcome Trust collaborative award (£1.2 million), leading a team of 10 researchers to investigate the meanings of waiting in, and for, healthcare, in order to change academic and public understandings of what ‘timely’ care means. See http://waitingtimes.exeter.ac.uk/.
Baraitser, L., (2020) The Maternal Death Drive: Greta Thunberg and the question of the future. Psychoanalysis, Culture, Society.
Baraitser L., and Salisbury L. (2020) ‘Containment, delay, mitigation’: waiting and care in the time of a pandemic. Wellcome Open Res 2020, 5:129
Lisa Baraitser in conversation about the temporal politics of Covid-19 in the journal Ephemera
Lisa Baraitser speaks to Jordan Osserman about Enduring Time for the New Books in Psychoanalysis podcast series.
Lisa Baraitser speaks to Stewart Motha about Enduring Time for the Countersign podcast.
Lisa Baraitser speaks on BBC Radio 3, Free Thinking, January 2019.
Qualifications
- PhD Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London, 2006
- MA Counselling and Psychotherapy, University of East London, 2000
- BSc Hons., Medical Science and Psychology, University of Edinburgh, 1990
Professional memberships
Member: Institute of Psychoanalysis/British Psychoanalytical Society
Accredited and Registered Psychotherapist: British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
Member: British Psychoanalytic Council
Member: Psychosocial Studies Network
Fellow: Higher Education Academy
Honours and awards
- Feminist and Women's Studies Association Book Prize for Maternal Encounters: The Ethics of Interruption (Routledge, 2009), Feminist and Women's Studies Association, November 2009
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Research
Research
Research interests
- Temporal, affective and ethical dimensions of care
- Motherhood, maternity, maternal subjectivities, identities and ethics
- Psychoanalytic theory and practice
- Critical Time studies
- Psychosocial Studies
- Medical Humanities
Research overview
I am an interdisciplinary research scholar working in Psychosocial Studies.
My research concerns the temporal, ethical and affective dimensions of care - from motherhood, through to healthcare.
I am currently co-Principal Investigator on Waiting Times, a Wellcome Trust collaborative award (£1.2 million). I lead a team of 10 researchers with Laura Salisbury at the University of Exeter, to investigate the meanings of waiting in, and for healthcare. We are working to develop a critical, historical, and culturally contextualised understanding of waiting in contemporary life in order to intervene in academic and public understandings of what ‘timely’ care means.
As one of the founding members of the Department of Psychosocial Studies in 2009, I was Assistant Dean (Head of Department) from 2011-14. I have played a role in the establishment of Psychosocial Studies as a new field of studies in the UK and internationally, as well as the interdisciplinary areas of ‘maternal studies’ and ‘critical time studies’ which I have helped to seed and build capacity at national and international levels.
I am founder of the Birkbeck Research Centre MaMSIE (Mapping Maternal Subjectivities, Identities and Ethics) which has been leading a critical re-evaluation of ‘the maternal’ as lived experience, social location, political and scientific practice, and economic and ethical challenge. With 500 members worldwide it provides a dynamic interactive online hub that collates scholarly and aesthetic work on motherhood, organizes and hosts scholarly events, and publishes a well-read open access peer-reviewed journal, Studies in the Maternal, which I co-edit.
Research Centres and Institutes
Research clusters and groups
- Co-Principal Investigator, Waiting Times
Post doctoral staff
- Jordan Osserman
- Magda-Agata Schmukalla
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Supervision and teaching
Supervision and teaching
Supervision
I supervise PhD students working on time, care, motherhood, psychoanalytic theory and epistemological and methodological issues in Psychosocial Studies.
Current doctoral researchers
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STEPHANIE DAVIES
Doctoral alumni
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ALAN BRISTOW
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JONAS GREEN
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RONI BOR
Teaching
I teach on the BA Psychosocial Studies and the MA Psychoanalytic Studies
Teaching modules
- Love: an introduction to psychosocial studies (SSPA071S4)
- Psychoanalysis and Social Theory (SSPA092S5)
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Publications
Publications
Article
- Baraitser, Lisa (2020) The Maternal Death Drive: Greta Thunberg and the question of the future. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society ISSN 1088-0763. (In Press)
- Baraitser, Lisa and Salisbury, Laura (2020) Containment, delay, mitigation: waiting and care in the time of a pandemic. Wellcome Open Research ISSN 2398-502X. (In Press)
- Baraitser, Lisa (2017) YouTube birth and the primal scene. Performance Research 22 (5), pp. 7-17. ISSN 1352-8165.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2016) Postmaternal, postwork and the maternal death drive. Australian Feminist Studies 31 (90), pp. 393-409. ISSN 0816-4649.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2015) Temporal drag: transdisciplinarity and the 'case' of psychosocial studies. Theory, Culture & Society 32 (5-6), pp. 207-231. ISSN 0263-2764.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2015) Psychoanalysis and feminism and …. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society 20 (S2), pp. 151-159. ISSN 1088-0763.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2014) Duration, skin, and the ageing subject. Studies in Gender and Sexuality 15 (3), pp. 228-234. ISSN 1524-0657.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2013) Collecting time: some reflections on the psychopolitics of belonging. New Formations 79, pp. 8-25. ISSN 0950-2378.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2013) Mush time: communality and the temporal rhythms of family life. Families, Relationships and Societies 2 (1), pp. 147-153. ISSN 2046-7435.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2013) Nomadic subjects and the feminist archives. Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies 15 (4),
- Tyler, I. and Baraitser, Lisa (2013) Private view, public birth: making feminist sense of the new visual culture of childbirth. Studies in the Maternal 5 (2), ISSN 1759-0434.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2012) Delay: on temporality in Luisa Passerini's Autobiography of a Generation: Italy, 1968. European Journal of Women's Studies 19 (3), pp. 380-385. ISSN 1350-5068.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2012) Communality across time: responding to encounters with maternal encounters: the ethics of interruption. Studies in Gender and Sexuality 13 (2), pp. 117-122. ISSN 1524-0657.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2012) Giving an account of another: commentary on Rozmarin's 'Maternal Silence'. Studies in Gender and Sexuality 13 (1), pp. 15-23. ISSN 1524-0657.
- Frost, N. and Eatough, Virginia and Shaw, R.L. and Weille, K.L. and Tzemou, E. and Baraitser, Lisa (2012) Pleasure, pain and procrastination: reflections on the experience of doing memory-work research. Qualitative Research in Psychology 9 (3), pp. 231-248. ISSN 1478-0887.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2010) On reading transpositions: a response to Rosi Braidotti's "Transpositions: On Nomadic Ethics". Subjectivity 3, pp. 125-130. ISSN 1755-6341.
- Baraitser, Lisa and Pollock, G. and Spigel, S. (2010) Editorial: special issue: m(o)ther trouble. Studies in the Maternal 2 (1), ISSN 1759-0434.
- Baraitser, Lisa and Tyler, I. (2010) Talking of mothers. Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture (44), ISSN 1362-6620.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2009) Mothers who make things public. Feminist Review 93 (1), pp. 8-26. ISSN 0141-7789.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2009) Envy, competition and gender: theory, clinical applications and group work. Psychodynamic Practice 15 (2), pp. 191-194. ISSN 1475-3634.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2009) Maternal encounters: the ethics of interruption. Feminist Review 93, pp. 138-139. ISSN 0141-7789.
- Baraitser, Lisa and Spigel, S. (2009) Mapping maternal subjectivities, identities and ethics. Studies in the Maternal 1 (1), ISSN 1759-0434.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2008) On giving and taking offence. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society 13 (4), pp. 423-427. ISSN 1088-0763.
- Frosh, Stephen and Baraitser, Lisa (2008) Psychoanalysis and psychosocial studies. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society 13 (4), pp. 346-365. ISSN 1088-0763.
- Bayly, S. and Baraitser, Lisa (2008) On waiting for something to happen. Subjectivity 24 (1), pp. 340-355. ISSN 1755-6341.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2008) Mum's the word: intersubjectivity, alterity, and the maternal subject. Studies in Gender and Sexuality 9 (1), pp. 86-110. ISSN 1524-0657.
- Frosh, Stephen and Baraitser, Lisa (2008) Marginalia. Qualitative Research in Psychology 5 (1), pp. 68-77. ISSN 1478-0887.
- Baraitser, Lisa and Noack, Amelie (2007) Mother courage: reflections on maternal resilience. British Journal of Psychotherapy 23 (2), pp. 171-188. ISSN 1752-0118.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2006) Oi mother, keep ye' hair on! impossible transformations of maternal subjectivity. Studies in Gender and Sexuality 7 (3), pp. 217-238. ISSN 1524-0657.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2006) Reply to commentaries. Studies in Gender and Sexuality 7 (3), pp. 249-257. ISSN 1524-0657.
- Noack, Amelie and Baraitser, Lisa (2004) Groupwork with mothers who have been sexually abused in childhood. British Journal of Psychotherapy 20 (3), pp. 345-359. ISSN 1752-0118.
- Frosh, Stephen and Baraitser, Lisa (2003) Thinking, recognition and otherness. Psychoanalytic Review 90, pp. 771-789. ISSN 0033-2836.
Book
- Baraitser, Lisa (2017) Enduring time. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781350008137.
- Baraitser, Lisa and O'Rourke, M. (2014) A feeling for things: conversations on and around the work of Jane Bennett. New York, USA: Punctum Books.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2008) Maternal encounters: the ethics of interruption. Women and Psychology. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9780415455015.
Book Section
- Baraitser, Lisa and Brook, W. (2021) Watchful waiting: temporalities of crisis and care in the UK National Health Service. In: Browne, V. and Danely, J. and Managhan, T. and Rosenow, D. (eds.) Vulnerability and the Politics of Care. Proceedings of the British Academy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197266830.
- Salisbury, Laura and Baraitser, Lisa (2020) Depressing time: waiting, melancholia and the psychoanalytic practice of care. In: Kirtsoglou, E. and Simpson, B. (eds.) The Time of Anthropology: Studies of contemporary chronopolitics. London, UK: Routledge. pp. 103-122. ISBN 9781003087199.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2015) Touching time: maintenance, endurance, care. In: Frosh, Stephen (ed.) Psychosocial Imaginaries: Perspectives on Temporality, Subjectivities and Activism. Studies In The Psychosocial. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 21-47. ISBN 9781137388179.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2014) Maternal publics: time, relationality and the public sphere. In: Bueskens, P. (ed.) Mothering and Psychoanalysis: Clinical, Sociological and Feminist Perspectives. Basingstoke, UK: Demeter Press. ISBN 9781927335260.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2014) Nomadic subjects and the feminist archives. In: Blaagaard, B. (ed.) The Subject of Rosi Braidotti: Politics and Concepts. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472573353.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2014) Object orientated maternalities, or mothers who hoard. In: Baraitser, Lisa and O'Rourke, M. (eds.) A Feeling for Things. New York, USA: Punctum Books.
- Tyler, I. and Baraitser, Lisa (2013) From abjection to natality: some thoughts on Helen Knowles' YouTube portraits. In: Bowers, P. and Knowles, H. (eds.) Private View: Public Birth. London, UK: JKL Books.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2012) Maternal publics: time, relationality and the public sphere. In: Gulerce, A. (ed.) Re(con)figuring Psychoanalysis: Critical Juxtapositions of the Philosophical, the Sociohistorical and the Political. Social Sciences Collection 2012. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 221-240. ISBN 9780230293755.
- Baraitser, Lisa (2012) Maternal publics: time, relationality and the public sphere. In: Gulerce, A. (ed.) Re(con)figuring Psychoanalysis: Critical Juxtapositions of the Philosophical, the Sociohistorical and the Political. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230293755.
- Baraitser, Lisa and Spigel, S. (2011) Mapping maternal subjectivities, identities and ethics. In: O'Reilly, A. (ed.) The 21st Century Motherhood Movement. Ontario, Canada: Demeter Press. ISBN 9780986667114.
- Frosh, Stephen and Baraitser, Lisa (2009) Goodbye to identity?. In: Elliott, A. and du Gay, P. (eds.) Identity in Question. London, UK: Sage. pp. 158-169. ISBN 9781412922432.
- Baraitser, Lisa and Bayly, S. (2001) Now and then: psychotherapy and the rehearsal process. In: Campbell, P. and Kear, A. (eds.) Psychoanalysis and Performance. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9780415212052.
Conference Item
- Baraitser, Lisa (2007) Encountering ethics. International Society for Theoretical Psychology Conference, 2007, York University, Toronto, Canada
- Baraitser, Lisa (2007) One, two, infinity: on mother love, melancholia, and unexpected weeping. Melancholic States, 2007, University of Lancaster
- Baraitser, Lisa (2007) Stuffed: maternity and the encumbered body. Birth: The Cultural Politics of Reproduction, 2007, University of Lancaster
- Baraitser, Lisa (2006) Desisting method. Qualitative Research and Marginality, 2006, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
- Baraitser, Lisa (2006) Lisa Baraitser in conversation with Professor Jessica Benjamin. Lisa Baraitser in conversation with Professor Jessica Benjamin, 2006, Birkbeck, University of London, London
- Baraitser, Lisa (2005) Fail again, fail better: ethics and maternal practice. International Conference for Theoretical Psychology, 2005, Cape Town, South Africa
- Baraitser, Lisa (2004) Punch drunk: a phenomenology of interruption. Mothering and Feminism Conference, 2004, Association for Research on Mothering, York University, Toronto, Canada
Editorial
- Baraitser, Lisa and Hartman, S. (2016) Editors’ introduction to the special issue — Bion: here, there, and in between. Studies in Gender and Sexuality 17 (3), pp. 139-140. Taylor and Francis. ISSN 1524-0657.