Abstract

BALBUENA RIVERA, Francisco. Paul Federn - social commitent and political ideals. Rev. Asoc. Esp. Neuropsiq. [online]. 2005, n.96, pp.115-126. ISSN 2340-2733.

This study considers the political involvement and genuine social commitment developed by P. Federn from the perspective of his dual role of psychoanalyst and activist within the Austrian social-democratic party. The influence of Freudian psychoanalysis in both these spheres was to prove decisive, as can be seen in his essay Psychology of the Revolution: the fatherless society (1919), in which he expresses his reflections on events in Europe after 1918. Freud himself would echo his thoughts, citing the essay two years later in Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (1921), which some commentators see as evidence of Federn´s influence on the work. The rise of Nazism, however, put paid to Federn's hopes for socio-political change, and he left Europe for the United States, where his previous political affiliations were misinterpreted, as social-democracy was equated with communism. He was denounced by a New York newspaper and his life-long work as social critic was undermined.

Keywords : P. Federn; S. Freud; psychoanalysis; politics.

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