Fascism and democracy in the human mind : a bridge between mind and society
An internationally recognized scholar of the psychology of violence, Charny defines two paradigms of mental organization, the democratic and the fascist, and shows how these systems can determine behavior in intimate relationships, social situations, and events of global significance. With its novel conception of mental health and illness, this book develops new directions for diagnosis and treatment of emotional disorders that are played out in everyday acts of violence against ourselves and others
Print Book, English, ©2006
University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, ©2006
xvii, 471 pages ; 24 cm
9780803215504, 9780803217966, 0803215509, 080321796X
62152787
Introduction: A new bridge between mind and society
Part I: The choice between fascism and democracy in everyday life in the individual mind, the family, and society : 1. What is the original "mind software" we humans receive at the "factory"?
2. The choice between fascist mind and democratic mind: what chance do we have of changing our "fascist minds" to "democratic minds"?
3. The fascist believer: totality, overcertainty, and suppression of information
4. The fascist slave: obedience, conformity, and intolerance of dissent
5. The fascist fist: superiority, excessive power, and violence against self and others
6. The fascist denier: "I never did any harm": denials of doing harm to oneself or to others
Part II. Overcoming and growing beyond the seductions of fascism in mind and society : 7. Democratic mind as the healthy alternative to fascist mind: the joy of life process and opportunity
8. Psychotherapy as antifascism and training for democracy
9. Discovering applications of democratic mind in everyday life
10. A unified theory of democratic mind in the self, family, and society: a vision of more decent human beings who do less harm to themselves and others
Conclusion: The care and maintenance of the bridge between mind and society
Epilogue: My background both as a psychotherapist and as a peace researcher studying genocide