Group Psychology and Problems of Contemporary History

Events of recent history have begged for explanation in terms of group psychology and group behaviour. The omnipresent reality of totalitarianism, especially, calls for its interpretation in the very terms growing 'irrationality', and hence psychology that shape the phenomenon itself. Somehow, we must make what seems almost totally irrational submit to rational explanation. The term 'cult of personality' itself emphasizes the psychological dimension. So, too, our increased interest in, and awareness of, racial situations provokes an inquiry into the inter-personal relations that underlie an otherwise irrational, and often uneconomical, system. Colonial relations, messianic cults, all ask similar questions. Yet, since the publication of William McDougall's Introduction to Social Psychology in I908, perhaps the earliest text in the field, little seems to have been done here that satisfies the historian's quest for greater understanding. As for psychoanalytically-oriented work, the theories of Freudian individual psychology, even for those convinced of their validity, seem not to have been satisfactorily connected to the problems of group psychology. Thus the stem and demanding challenge of group psychology and its relation to history still confronts us, unsmilingly. The cheerful note in this situation is that a fresh look at the problem, however unsuccessful, can hardly be compared too unfavourably to its predecessors. I propose, therefore, to note some of the new theories of group psychology and group behaviour as applied to contemporary history; then to glance at their possible application to national character; at their application in work on group psychoses and neuroses

Epistemology · Group (periodic table · Psychoanalysis · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Chemistry · History · Philosophy · Psychology

• Fascism and the Race Question

  Open Access•Michael D Biddiss•Race•1969

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• The personality cult of Stalin in Soviet posters, 1929–1953

  Open Access•Anita Pisch•The personality cult of Stalin in…•2016

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• Becoming Sane with Psychohistory

  Open Access•Terry H Anderson•Historian•1978

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• Bibliographie d’histoire de l’Amérique française (publications récentes)

  Open Access•Paul Aubin, Centre de bibliographie historique de l'Amérique française et al.•Revue d histoire de l Amérique…•1968

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