Psychoanalysts are more influential now than ever in our history, because some psychoanalysts have turned towards fascism, working in common cause with leading American fascist politicians and political operatives. In this talk, I will review research I undertook as I completed a book on fascism and psychoanalysis, with a special focus on psychoanalysts who have been actively involved in producing and promoting fascist propaganda, particularly regarding trans people, Palestinians, and academics and activists who work to support both those groups. I will contextualize these recent events through a discussion of the longue durée of authoritarianism within psychoanalysis, from Freud forward, and I will conclude with a brief consideration of why the recent and remote historical events I recount make clear the need for an antifascist psychoanalysis.

How Fascism Came for Psychoanalysis, and Why We Need Antifascist Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysts are more influential now than ever in our history, because some psychoanalysts have turned towards fascism, working in common cause with leading American fascist politicians and political operatives. In this talk, I will review research I undertook as I completed a book on fascism and psychoanalysis, with a special focus on psychoanalysts who have been actively involved in producing and promoting fascist propaganda, particularly regarding trans people, Palestinians, and academics and activists who work to support both those groups. I will contextualize these recent events through a discussion of the longue durée of authoritarianism within psychoanalysis, from Freud forward, and I will conclude with a brief consideration of why the recent and remote historical events I recount make clear the need for an antifascist psychoanalysis.