PSYCHOHISTORY
Psychohistory is
the study of the psychological motivations of historical events. It attempts to
combine the insights of psychotherapy with the research methodology of the
social sciences to understand the emotional origin of the social and political behavior
of groups and nations, past and present. Its subject matter is childhood and
the family, and psychological studies of anthropology and ethnology.
In Psychohistory: Theory and Practice (1999), Jacques
Szaluta defines psychohistory as “the application of psychology, in its
broadest sense, or psychoanalysis in a specific sense, to the study of the
past.” Henry Lawton in The Psychohistorian’s Handbook (1988) describes it as
“the interdisciplinary study of why man has acted as he has in history,
prominently utilizing psychoanalytic principles.” He adds that psychohistory “is essentially
interpretive” rather than narrative.
EMERGENCE
Sigmund Freud’s well known work, Civilization
and Its Discontents (1929), included an analysis of history based on his
theory of psychoanalysis. Wilhelm Reich combined his psychoanalytic and
political theories in his book The Mass Psychology of Fascism in 1933.
The psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm
wrote about the psychological motivation behind political ideology, starting
with The Fear of Freedom in 1941.
Theodor Adorno published The Authoritarian
Personality, in 1950, which was an influential sociological book which could be
taken as something of a proto-psychohistorical book.
Its first academic use appeared in Erik
Erikson's book Young Man Luther (1958), where the author called for a
discipline of "psycho-history" to examine the impact of human
character on history.
Lloyd deMause developed a formal
psychohistorical approach from 1974 onwards, and continues to be an influential
theorist in this field.
The International
Psychohistorical Association (IPA) was founded in 1977 by Lloyd de Mause, Paul
Elovitz, David Beisel, Henry Lawton and others. Our basic goals are to further
the study and teaching of psychohistory Our worldwide membership comes from
many fields – history, psychoanalysis, art, law, education, psychology, social
work,
business,
anthropology, political science, sociology, film making, psychiatry,
literature, family therapy, journalism, and more. The educational attainment of
our membership is similarly variable, ranging from Ph.D.s and MDs to high
school students. The IPA’s annual convention draws scholars and students
from across the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world. In
addition to
producing our
conference, website, and newsletter, the IPA recently weighed in on one of the
most pressing social and policy issues of our day, the problem of violence and
what
4
can be done about
it. Here is our statement “How to End Violence
in America”. We hope you will find this a valuable resource for
education and advocacy.
Here are some further ways to connect with the IPA and our
members:
- Psychohistory
News, our quarterly newsletter.
- The
Clio’s Psyche listserve, an online psychohistory discussion group
independent of the IPA but involving many of our members.
- The
Journal of Psychohistory.
A peer reviewed journal independent of the IPA but publishing the work of
many of our members.
- Clio's
Psyche. Another independent journal publishing essays by IPA
members.
- Our
annotated bibliography of books and articles in the field.
- If
you have questions or comments about psychohistory, the IPA, or this
website, we would love to hear from you…
_______________________________
souvik
raychaudhuri m sc. phd mspa (usa), associate professor, department of
psychology, university of calcutta is the indian member of ipa. for
any details/queries feel free to contact him:
raychaudhurisouvik@yahoo.com ; souvik_raychaudhuri@rediffmail.com
