Mass Psychology Of Fascism

The Mass Psychology of Fascism (German: Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus) is a 1933 psychology book written by the Austrian psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich, in which the author attempts to explain how fascists and authoritarians come into power through their political and ideologically-oriented sexual repression on the popular masses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mass_Psychology_of_Fascism

• He joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) upon moving his psychoanalytic practice to Berlin in 1930. However, The Mass Psychology of Fascism was seen as being so critical of the communist regime in the Soviet Union that Reich was considered to be a liability to the KPD, and was subsequently kicked out of the party upon the book's publication in 1933.
• The question at the heart of Reich's book was this: why did the masses turn to one form of authoritarianism over another.
• The healthy alternative, he proposes, is a form of "Workers Democracy", whereby those who 'do' the actual work make the decisions as to what, how and why. (((self-organization]]; co-op?)
• Reich argued that the reason why German fascism (i.e., Nazism) was chosen over communism was that of increased sexual repression in Germany – as opposed to the somewhat more liberal (post-revolutionary) Russia
• Fear of revolt, as well as fear of sexuality, were thus "anchored" in the 'character structure' of the masses (the majority). This influenced the 'people' and allowed (what Reich thought as irrational) 'populistic' ideology to flourish
• For Reich, fighting fascism meant first labeling civilized society as Fascist and then studying it pseudo scientifically, which was to say, using the methods of psychoanalysis
• Reich proposed "work democracy", a self-managing form of social organization that would preserve the individual's freedom, independence, autonomy and encourage his/her responsibility and society would thus base itself on these principles. (Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose)
• The book, along with many others banned by the Nazis when they came to power, was publicly burnt in the Nazi book burnings. Reich realized he was in considerable danger and hurriedly left Germany; first going to Austria (to see his ex-wife and children) and then to 'exile' in Denmark, Sweden and subsequently Norway
• This book – and all of Reich's published books – were later ordered to be burned on the request of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by a judge in Maine, United States in 1954.
• Chapter V contains the famous statement that the family is the first cell of the fascist society:
• From the standpoint of social development, the family cannot be considered the basis of the authoritarian state, only as one of the most important institutions which support it*
• Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari reprised Reich arguments in their joint work Anti-Oedipus (1972), in which they discuss the formation of fascism at the molecular level of society