"The work of the School proceeds through the cartel — not through the seminar, the conference, or the course."
Jacques Lacan first introduced the mechanism of the cartel in the “Acte de fondation” (1964), where he stated that the cartel embodies the work of the School. As a structure, the cartel constitutes a fundamental working framework in psychoanalytic formation.
A cartel consists of 3 to 5 participants (cartel members) who come together to work collectively and choose an additional person who assumes the function of the “plus-one.” Cartels may be formed by participants from different countries and may work remotely, although in-person meetings are encouraged whenever possible.
The cartel gathers as a small working group around a topic of shared interest. Each cartel member, including the plus-one, approaches the work with a specific question or issue they wish to investigate in relation to the chosen theme.
The function of the plus-one is to support the choice of topic, the discussion, and the work itself, ensuring that each member produces a personal work product. The plus-one sustains the desire to work and helps neutralize group effects that may hinder the cartel’s progress.
Another essential characteristic of the cartel is its duration: the life cycle of a cartel is limited to two years, after which it concludes its work.
J.-A. Miller explains that “like analysis, the cartel is a push toward knowledge, and the aim of the cartel is knowledge.” However, this is not academic knowledge, and “the cartel does not obey standard usage.”
The cartel aims at producing work that has been elaborated and extracted during the cartel process — work that embodies a fragment of transmissible knowledge arising from each member’s personal experience and individual formation.
Cartels are registered on the School’s website (NLS), including the names of the members and their research question, via the designated form.
Members of the working community are invited to make use of the cartel function within the committee to seek additional participants, inform the GIEP committee about the formation of new cartels, present their work products to the community, publish them in journals, and more.
