The Mass Psychology of Fascism

Description

In this classic study, Reich provides unique insight into the phenomenon of fascism, which continues to ravage the international community in ways great and small. Drawing on his medical experiences with men and women of various classes, races, nations, and religious beliefs, Reich refutes the still generally helf notion that fascism is a specific characteristic of certain nationalities or a political party of ideology that is imposed on innocent people by means of force or political maneuvers. “Fascism is only the organised political expression of the structure of the average man’s character. It is basic emotional attitude of the suppressed man of our authoritarian machine civilization and its mechanistic-mystical conception of life.” Responsibility for the elimination of fascism thus rests with the masses of average people who might otherwise support and champion it.

Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian psychoanalyst, physician, and author, best known for his controversial theories on sexuality, psychology, and “orgone energy.” He wrote extensively on psychoanalysis, politics, and human behavior, leaving behind a body of work that influenced psychology, sociology, and countercultural movements. Reich’s early psychoanalytic work remains respected, especially his character analysis methods. His political writings, particularly The Mass Psychology of Fascism, are still cited in discussions of authoritarianism. His later theories on orgone energy were widely criticized as pseudoscience, but they inspired aspects of the 1960s counterculture, including writers like William S. Burroughs and movements exploring alternative therapies.