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Fromm's Contribution to the Analysis and Critique of the Ongoing Rise of Right-Wing Movements
(2019)
One of the most important political changes in Europe, the USA and beyond is the growth of nationalistic parties and authoritarian structures within states. This contribution aims to demonstrate how a Frommian perspective on basic psychological needs, asynchronicity and alienation could contribute to a social-psychological understanding of nationalistic trends. At the end of the paper, we present some conclusions drawn from this social-psychological point of view concerning the development of a sane society.
Universality is being deconstructed within contemporary social struggles. Focusing on struggles around the discourse on refugees and the nation, and so-called >welcome culture< in the German context in particular, questions arise regarding the emancipatory potential of emerging narratives of a contested common ground (Hark et al. 2015). This article proposes Erich Fromm's understanding of >radical humanism< (1968a) and its line of argumentation towards >global solidarity< (Wilde 2013) instead of national >group narcissism< (Fromm 1964a) as a normative base to evaluate the emancipatory value of emerging narratives.
The article brings together the social psychoanalytic approach by Erich Fromm with current research on nationalism in Western democratic societies. While current research often focuses on the extreme forms of nationalism, the work of Erich Fromm contributes to an understanding of nationalism that encompasses the whole society in a world structured by nation states. The notion of a social unconscious helps to reflect upon both visible and often unnoticed forms of nationalism and links it to an interconnected understanding of psychic and social structure. With Fromm we can understand nationalism as collective narcissism which has been preceded by a loss of self-esteem. Relevant threats to self-esteem in Western democratic societies shaped by a neoliberal ideology, like individualisation and singularisation, will be outlined in the article.
Was ist der Nationalismus der Mitte? Katrin Voigt gibt auf Basis von Interviews einen Überblick über das Phänomen in Deutschland. Dabei arbeitet sie einerseits Grenzziehungen zum gewaltvollen rechten Nationalismus heraus, zeigt aber auch auf, welche Vorstellungen von nationaler Überlegenheit und welche Formen der Marginalisierung und Ausgrenzung anhand von Ethnizität und ›race‹ innerhalb des Nationalismus der Mitte existieren. Dabei zeigt sich, dass Nationalismus nicht ausschließlich als intendierte Praktik aufgefasst werden darf, sondern strukturell in nationalstaatlich verfassten Gesellschaften angelegt ist.