Thoughts for the Times on Groups and Masses

“In groups the most contradictory ideas can exist side by side and tolerate each other, without any conflict arising from the logical contradiction between them”, wrote Freud in his 1921 book Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. One hundred years later, in an age of war, social networks, and ubiquitous threats to democracy, the questions raised by Freud are as relevant as ever. In today's mass and group formations, psychological processes and mechanisms can be recognized as they were described by Freud a century ago: compliance, hypnotization, regression, idealization, identification, and fusion with the Other. This anthology is the result of an interdisciplinary symposium organized by the Sigmund Freud Museum, Vienna. In their contributions, scholars from psychoanalysis, philosophy, sociology and literary studies present critical re-readings of the text and focus on current issues such as the rise of right-wing populist movements, the role of the narcissistic leader, and mass phenomena in the digital age.

Daniela Finzi is the head of the research department of the Sigmund Freud Museum in Vienna and member of the board of the Sigmund Freud Foundation.

Jeanne Wolff Bernstein is a psychoanalyst in Vienna and the chair of the Advisory Board of the Sigmund Freud Foundation.