Frankfurt School, 1936, studies on authority (2): Erich Fromm on using Freudian concepts in sociology

Erich Fromm

Erich Fromm's introductory essay in Studien über Autorität und Familie. Forschungsberichte aus dem Institut für Sozialforshung (1936; Studies On Authority and Family: Research Reports from the Institute for Social Research) is largely a summary of the basic orthodox psychoanalytic concepts with suggestions on how they can be applied to understanding broader social dynamics. Here he is writing within the main lines of Sigmund Freud's theories. In "Die gesellschaftliche Bedingtheit der psychoanalytischen Therapie" (The Social Conditioning of Psychoanalytic Therapy) in Zeitschrift für Sozialforshung 3/1937, Fromm would express sympathy for some of the less orthodox criticism of Freud’s ideas coming from Sándor Ferenczi, one of Freud's closest associates and one of the main leaders in the International Psychoanalytic Association.

He makes a memorable comment about psychological sadism and masochism in authoritarian societies:

In authoritären Gesellschaftsformen finden sowohl die masochistischen wie die sadistischen Strebungen ihre Befriedigung. Jeder ist in ein System von Abhängikeiten nach oben und unten eingegliedert.

[In authoritarian forms of society, the masochistic as well as the sadistic impulses find their satisfaction. Everyone is integrated into a system of dependencies from above and below.]

He devotes a large part of his essay to how sado-masochistic tendencies contribute to generating mass support in authoritarian societies.

Tags: frankfurt school, frankfurter schule, erich fromm