[Hedonism and revolution. The reception of psychoanalysis in the Berlin student movement in the 1960s]

Luzif Amor. 2014;27(54):25-55.
[Article in German]

Abstract

The article takes hedonism and revolution as a vantage point to discuss the Kommune 2, an experiment in collective living, the anti-authoritarian kindergardens for the under-fives, and, last but not least, a speech in 1968 that spurred the women's movement in Western Germany. The author's interest is on the materials documenting how the Berlin student movement saw psychoanalysis: One point was that the pleasure principle should replace the reality principle for the sake of humankind, another that the authoritarian character structure has its roots in the denial of sexuality. Kindergarden children supposedly need "de-individualized identification" to develop ego-strength, when boys and girls differ in their superego organization. An important accomplishment was a group analysis conducted without an analyst, an experiment that worked amazingly well in the Kommune 2. In all, these various experiments in emancipation, with psychoanalysis a guide to interpersonal understanding, may be deemed spectacular when their aftereffects on everyday life in Germany have been tremendous.

Publication types

  • English Abstract
  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Berlin
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Feminism / history*
  • History, 20th Century
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Philosophy / history*
  • Psychoanalysis / history*
  • Schools, Nursery / history*
  • Social Change / history*
  • Students / history*
  • Young Adult