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Erich Fromm and Sociology
(2006)
Erich Fromm
(2006)
This paper combines historical and biographical work on the Frankfurt School of critical theorists with a sociological approach to intellectual creativity outlined in Michael Farrell’s provocative book Collaborative Circles: Friendship Dynamics and Creative Work. Revisiting earlier research on the often unheralded role the psychoanalyst Erich Fromm played in the early years of the critical theory tradition, the paper reviews the theory of collaborative circles outlined by Farrell, applies this social science explanation of conflict and creativity to the Frankfurt School network of Horkheimer, Fromm, Adorno, Marcuse, Lowenthal etc. and suggests a new way of thinking about the history of this innovative and controversial group of social theorists and researchers. The paper concludes by suggesting revisions to the Farrell model of collaborative circles and compares and contrasts the strengths of the theory to the >scientific intellectual movements< approach outlined by Frickel and Gross.
Letters to the Editor
(1993)
How to Become a Forgotten Intellectual: Intellectual Movements and the Rise and Fall of Erich Fromm
(1998)
Most reputation studies focus on canonized intellectuals, scholars, and artists. With few exceptions, there has been little detailed examination of the sociological dynamics involved in exclusion. Examined here are the ideas and reputation history of the German psychoanalyst and sociologist Erich FROMM, expanding the repu-tation model outlined by Michele Lamont in >How to Become a Dominant French Intellectual: The Case of Jacques Derrida.< The example of Erich FROMM provides support for a modified version of Lamont's model as well as a level analysis framework. FROMM was a prestigious intellectual in sociology, psychoanalysis, and US intellectual life in the 1940s and 1950s, but since has gone out fashion. Similar macro-, organizational, and microfactors explain both FROMM's decline and Derrida's rise to status after 1965. Emphasis is on the importance of symbolic boundaries within and between psychoanalysis, Marxism, and sociology as factors that both create and damage intellectual reputations.
A reading of David Riesman's classic The Lonely Crowd is presented that emphasizes its links with the critical theory of German psychoanalyst & social critic Erich Fromm. The intellectual & personal relationship between Riesman & Fromm brings into focus Riesman's adaptation of the insights of European critical theory as well as the strengths of American social science & social criticism. Riesman's rela-tively neglected theoretical approach has much to offer a sociology concerned with retaining its links to public debate & empirical evidence.
Fromm, Erich
(2015)
This article presents an analytic history of the legacy of Erich Fromm, the German psychoanalyst, social psychologist, critical thinker, best-selling author, and an early member of the Frankfurt School. Fromm’s intellectual insights flowed from aspects of his life and optimal marginality in relationship to various intellectual social movements and his complex relationship with the Frankfurt School. But Fromm also became a >forgotten intellectual< for some of the same biographical and sociological reasons. Ideas and scholarly influence can rise again as well as decline, so with his contemporary relevance in mind, we will discuss some of the underappreciated contributions Fromm made to the study of authoritarianism, race, and ethnicity as well as his influence on theories of gender and the practice of public sociology. There is new interest in Fromm’s work, suggesting that he might find again a place in the history and contemporary scholarship in social psychology, sociology, critical theory, and psychoanalysis.
Introducción
(2017)
This paper combines historical and biographical work on the Frankfurt School of critical theorists with a sociological approach to intellectual creativity outlined in Michael Farrell’s provocative book Collaborative Circles: Friendship Dynamics and Creative Work. Revisiting earlier research on the often unheralded role the psychoanalyst Erich Fromm played in the early years of the critical theory tradition, the paper reviews the theory of collaborative circles outlined by Farrell, applies this social science explanation of conflict and creativity to the Frankfurt School network of Horkheimer, Fromm, Adorno, Marcuse, Lowenthal etc. and suggests a new way of thinking about the history of this innovative and controversial group of social theorists and researchers. The paper concludes by suggesting revisions to the Farrell model of collaborative circles and compares and contrasts the strengths of the theory to the “scientific intellectual movements” approach outlined by Frickel and Gross.
Escapes from Freedom: Political Extremism, Conspiracy Theories, and the Sociology of Emotions
(2014)
Mainstream social science has been blindsided by the rise of Trumpism and broader growth of authoritarian populism. We make the case that Frommian work is desperately needed inside the core of contemporary social science theorizing by examining social character theory up against and alongside the concept of habitus developed by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. Both Fromm and Bourdieu were concerned with the human costs of social change and economic development, Fromm with his writings on advanced capitalism in The Sane Society (1955a) and on Mexican village life in Social Character in a Mexican Village (with Michael Maccoby, 1970b), and Bourdieu with his extended studies of peasants in Algeria during the French colonial war of the 1950s and early 1960s. We will compare and contrast the theory of social character developed in the Mexican study with Bourdieu's concept of habitus, and discuss what Fromm's ideas can add to Bourdieu-influenced critical social science.
Fromm's important contributions to the modern development of psychoanalytic thought are often ignored and frequently misunderstood. An early proponent of revisions of psychoanalytic theory and therapy similar to recent trends in object relations, self-psychology and interpersonal psychoanalysis, Fromm was a vi-sionary for a Freudian theory built upon orthodoxies of the past but going beyond them. It is argued here that Fromm's unique role in helping create a new version of psychoanalysis for the 21st century was as sociological as it was intellectual. Fromm's contributions were intimately linked to his institutional positioning close to the center but on the relative margins of the discipline. This paper will outline how sociological dynamics shaped Fromm's revision of psychoanalysis. We will con-clude by discussing how Fromm was able to have a more dramatic influence than other Freudian revisionists who were less favourably positioned.
Letters to the Editor
(1993)
Introduction
(2015)
Introduction
(2015)
The sociological study of intellectual innovation has long been polarized between romantic notions of the creative marginal intellectual & competing accounts stressing the benefits of national, organizational, & network centrality in the production of knowledge. I offer the concept of >optimal marginality< as an attempt to move beyond this longstanding but increasingly stale debate. The relationship between a certain type of marginality & intellectual creativity is discussed in the context of a case study on innovation within psychoanalysis. German psychoana-lyst Erich Fromm's contributions to the modern revision of Freudian theory is high-lighted to illustrate the conditions under which marginality is likely to lead to innova-tions within theoretical systems & intellectual organizations. What types of margin-ality lead to innovation? Under what conditions does marginality lead to insight, & when does it lead to marginal ideas? Four ideal types are outlined & a research agenda is called for that operationalizes & tests these theoretical ideas in the con-text of comparative sociological analysis of intellectual creativity.
The current political climate is marked by polarization, which presents new difficulties for psychoanalysis. Erich Fromm, as a Freudian theorist and clinician, is uniquely positioned to address these issues. Fromm is a politically radical thinker who can help psychoanalysis think about society and social injustice beyond the clinical context while avoiding the dangers of excessively orthodox left-wing thinking that risks taking the field away from its core mission. Fromm can help psychoanalysis avoid what we are calling the >Peterson problem,< which is partly the result of provocative and extreme ideas in institutions and psychoanalytic publications that create reputational problems for the field. The >Peterson problem< brings new attention to the political bias of left-liberal authoritarians inside the profession, who focus on changing society rather than healing individuals and neglect audiences outside the liberal university and highly educated classes and thus create space for polarizing figures like psychologist Jordan Peterson to fill the gap. Peterson’s fame and influence serves as a lightning rod for the wider critique of left leaning political and cultural currents in psychoanalysis. Fromm can act as a role model as well as provide the intellectual resources for responding to these challenges.