68

Psychoanalysis has shown that there is no universal causal continuity between a social fact and the psychic suffering that may result from it. The unique and ineffable nature of the real for any given subject thus enters into conflict with what we call ‘the real of work’, which tends on the contrary to lend the subject a universal character. However, the subject of desire is indeed universal in its singularity. By turning to Lacanian theory, this article indicates certain paths by which we might understand in a political light the resistance of the ‘universal singular’ to the systems of social normalization that have become widespread under the influence of liberal politics. This contribution therefore opens up a space for reflection on the institutional conditions of possibility for the subject of desire as discovered by psychoanalysis.