On March 20, a two-day academic event exploring new research on Freudian concepts and psychoanalysis began. The third panel of the day focused on psychoanalysis in a colonial context, featuring presentations by Professor Howard Chiang of UC Santa Barbara; Professor Akshi Singh of the University of Glasgow; Professor Kevin Duong of the University of Virginia; and Professor Amy Wong of the Dominican University of California. Moderated by Professor M. Ty of UC Santa Cruz, the panel addressed an audience of approximately 90 people.
Chiang’s presentation, “X-Rays of the Mind: Projective Tests, Geopolitics, and the Cultural Laboratory of the Sinophone Pacific,” is part of his larger project, The Confucian Freud: Psychoanalysis and the Politics of Transcultural Science in the Sinophone Pacific. He examined the use of thematic apperception tests (TAT) in colonial China, particularly their role in studying China’s “national character.” These experiments, conducted by Richard H. Solomon and Robert J. Lipton in the mid-20th century, largely targeted Chinese refugees in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Chiang demonstrated how psychological tests, such as the Rorschach Test, though ostensibly neutral, became political tools in the context of empirical studies. For example, Roy Schafer’s Rorschach tests revealed subconscious political affinity, with test-takers interpreting inkblots as symbols of the USSR or the Chinese regime—suggesting the influence of Cold War geopolitics. Chiang ultimately argued that psychoanalysis testing on colonial subjects compels scholars to reassess conventional historical narratives.
Singh’s “Unconscious Terrorists: Colonialism, Violence, Insanity” explored the case of Gopinath Saha, who mistakenly killed a white man in Kolkata, India, intending to assassinate colonial police officer Charles Tegart. Saha was arrested and considered fit to stand trial despite a psychoanalyst’s assessment that he suffered from delusions tied to his devotion to India’s independence. Singh questioned whether Saha’s actions were a rational anti-colonial act or an expression of psychological turmoil induced by colonial oppression. She introduced the concept of “unconscious terrorism,” describing the psychological toll—manifesting in depression, anger, resentment, anxiety, loss, and feelings of suffering. Singh drew parallels between British colonial tactics in India and contemporary oppression in Palestine, noting that Tegart’s architectural designs for surveillance and control still shape Israeli security structures today. She argued that colonial history and psychoanalysis are deeply intertwined, providing insight into how oppression shapes psychological responses.
Duong’s “The Surrealist War Against Race War at UNESCO” examined the decline of psychoanalysis over the past half-century and its overlooked implications. He discussed French philosopher Claude Levi-Strauss’s 1955 commission by UNESCO to analyze shamanism and psychoanalysis, highlighting Levi-Strauss’s argument that psychoanalysis is modern shamanism, under its new guise, “therapy.” Duong linked this to UNESCO’s foundational mission to combat inequality, racism, and discrimination through scientific antiracism, particularly its 1948 Race Statement, which declared race to be a social rather than biological construct. This campaign sought to dismantle racial hierarchies without politicising science as the Nazis had. However, Duong emphasized that the statement’s claim that all human minds are fundamentally alike left space for psychoanalysis as a potential tool for anti-colonialism. He argued that psychoanalysis could challenge racial justifications for imperialism by demonstrating cognitive equality across populations. In this sense, he lamented that the decline of psychoanalysis has also meant the loss of a potentially valuable weapon against colonial ideologies.
Wong’s “‘Don't Say Catharsis’: Quiescence in Asian America” addressed the psychological roots of Asian American quiescence, arguing that silence is often a survival mechanism rather than political apathy. She traced this historical pattern to colonial oppression, which conditioned compliance as a means of self-preservation. Drawing on Asian American literature, Wong examined how unexpressed trauma that is passed down through generations stifles articulation. She suggested that quiescence is not merely a contemporary political stance but rather a psychological response to historical and familial trauma, shaped by colonial and imperialist subjugation. Psychoanalysis, thus, can also serve as a tool to understand the psychological implications of colonialism on the generations that succeed colonization periods.
The panel concluded with a Q&A session moderated by M. Ty.