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The Emotional Plague of Mankind #2
Άνθρωποι σε μπελάδες
Το "Άνθρωποι σε μπελάδες" είναι η ιστορία του αγώνα που διεξάγει ένας θαρραλέος άνθρωπος για να κατανοήσει την κοινωνική δραστηριότητα των συνανθρώπων του.
Πρόκειται για ένα έργο αυτοβιογραφικό, όπου ο Ράιχ περιγράφει την εξέλιξη της κοινωνιολογικής του σκέψης κατά την περίοδο 1927-1937. Σε απλή αφηγηματική μορφή εκθέτει τις προσωπικές του εμπειρίες από τα βασικά κοινωνικά και πολιτικά γεγονότα και αποκαλύπτει πως αυτές οι εμπειρίες τον οδήγησαν βαθμιαία στο να συνειδητοποιήσει τη βαθύτερη σημασία που έχει η δομή του ανθρώπινου χαρακτήρα στη διαμόρφωση της κοινωνικής διαδικασίας.
Πρόκειται για ένα έργο αυτοβιογραφικό, όπου ο Ράιχ περιγράφει την εξέλιξη της κοινωνιολογικής του σκέψης κατά την περίοδο 1927-1937. Σε απλή αφηγηματική μορφή εκθέτει τις προσωπικές του εμπειρίες από τα βασικά κοινωνικά και πολιτικά γεγονότα και αποκαλύπτει πως αυτές οι εμπειρίες τον οδήγησαν βαθμιαία στο να συνειδητοποιήσει τη βαθύτερη σημασία που έχει η δομή του ανθρώπινου χαρακτήρα στη διαμόρφωση της κοινωνικής διαδικασίας.
First published by Reich in 1953, People in Trouble is an autobiographical work in which Reich describes the development of his sociological thinking from 1927 to 1937. In simple narrative form he recounts his personal experiences with major social and political events and ideas, and reveals how these experiences gradually led him to an awareness of the deep significance of the human character structure in shaping and responding to the social process.
The importance of Karl Marx's work and its distortion by communist politicians plays an important role in Reich's account, as does the political activity in the International Psychoanalytic Association which led to his expulsion from that organization in 1934. The Norwegian press campaign against his biological experiments is also discussed.
People in Trouble is the story of one man's courageous struggle to understand the political activity of his fellow men.
362 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
8 people are currently reading
240 people want to read
About the author
Wilhelm Reich
163 books720 followersWilhelm Reich (24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was a Jewish Austrian-American doctor of medicine, psychiatrist/psychoanalyst and a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. Author of several influential books, he became one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry.
Reich was a respected analyst for much of his life, focusing on character structure, rather than on individual neurotic symptoms. He promoted adolescent sexuality, the availability of contraceptives and abortion, and the importance for women of economic independence. Synthesizing material from psychoanalysis, cultural anthropology, economics, sociology, and ethics, his work influenced writers such as Alexander Lowen, Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman, Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer, A. S. Neill, and William Burroughs.
He was also a controversial figure, who came to be viewed by the psychoanalytic establishment as having gone astray or as having succumbed to mental illness. His work on the link between human sexuality and neuroses emphasized "orgastic potency" as the foremost criterion for psycho-physical health. He said he had discovered a form of energy, which he called "orgone," that permeated the atmosphere and all living matter, and he built "orgone accumulators," which his patients sat inside to harness the energy for its reputed health benefits. It was this work, in particular, that cemented the rift between Reich and the psychoanalytic establishment.
Reich, of Jewish descent and a communist, was living in Germany when Adolf Hitler came to power. He fled to Scandinavia in 1933 and subsequently to the United States in 1939. In 1947, following a series of critical articles about orgone and his political views in The New Republic and Harper's, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began an investigation into his claims, winning an injunction against the interstate sale of orgone accumulators. Charged with contempt of court for violating the injunction, Reich conducted his own defense, which involved sending the judge all his books to read, and arguing that a court was no place to decide matters of science. He was sentenced to two years in prison, and in August 1956, several tons of his publications were burned by the FDA. He died of heart failure in jail just over a year later, days before he was due to apply for parole.
Reich was a respected analyst for much of his life, focusing on character structure, rather than on individual neurotic symptoms. He promoted adolescent sexuality, the availability of contraceptives and abortion, and the importance for women of economic independence. Synthesizing material from psychoanalysis, cultural anthropology, economics, sociology, and ethics, his work influenced writers such as Alexander Lowen, Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman, Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer, A. S. Neill, and William Burroughs.
He was also a controversial figure, who came to be viewed by the psychoanalytic establishment as having gone astray or as having succumbed to mental illness. His work on the link between human sexuality and neuroses emphasized "orgastic potency" as the foremost criterion for psycho-physical health. He said he had discovered a form of energy, which he called "orgone," that permeated the atmosphere and all living matter, and he built "orgone accumulators," which his patients sat inside to harness the energy for its reputed health benefits. It was this work, in particular, that cemented the rift between Reich and the psychoanalytic establishment.
Reich, of Jewish descent and a communist, was living in Germany when Adolf Hitler came to power. He fled to Scandinavia in 1933 and subsequently to the United States in 1939. In 1947, following a series of critical articles about orgone and his political views in The New Republic and Harper's, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began an investigation into his claims, winning an injunction against the interstate sale of orgone accumulators. Charged with contempt of court for violating the injunction, Reich conducted his own defense, which involved sending the judge all his books to read, and arguing that a court was no place to decide matters of science. He was sentenced to two years in prison, and in August 1956, several tons of his publications were burned by the FDA. He died of heart failure in jail just over a year later, days before he was due to apply for parole.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 6, 2007
Reich is a little heavy going at times, and while he seems very analytical, he has an unmistakable grip on what makes us human. He died in a US prison, cast off as a pervert due his emphasis on the role of sex in mental wellbeing.
A disciple of Freud, he's worth a read if you fancy getting up to your knees in heady psychoanalysis.
A disciple of Freud, he's worth a read if you fancy getting up to your knees in heady psychoanalysis.
December 10, 2020
This is a very tough read. If you are a fan of Reich's life and psychogy and politcs in Europe in 1930s this is for you.
I gave it three stars because the massive amounts of politics in this book was perhaps too much for me.
However, very interesting and quality read
I gave it three stars because the massive amounts of politics in this book was perhaps too much for me.
However, very interesting and quality read
October 14, 2023
An autobiographical work which relates Reich's experiences during the 1930s in Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Much of it is about his work, and ultimate disillusionment, with both the Marxist and Psychoanalytic communities. Reich's penetrating and prescient insights into the rise of fascism are especially relevant today, and the parallels between what happened in Germany then and what's happening now in the US are especially chilling. Some of his scientific observations are dated and have been superseded by newer research, but his pioneering work in mind/body medicine is truly groundbreaking.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews