Anarchism and Psychology

Most critical political movements are concerned with the internalised operations of power. But anarchists alone argue that human freedom cannot be institutionalised, or legislated from outside, which gives them a particular interest in psychology. From an anarchist point of view, the risk in using any form of psychology is being diverted from the world outside of ourselves. Still from an anarchist point of view, the risk of not engaging with psychological perspectives is to miss the prefigurative and transformative insights of some psychological practice and research. A focus on the self, ‘being the change you want to see,’ and the inner work of social transformation, loom large in the anarchist vision of action. This chapter will explore the shared frontiers of psychology and anarchism with a view to identifying which aspects of psychological research and psychotherapy, including humanistic psychology, have resonated most authentically with anarchist projects. Psychological perspectives emerging from the work of radical Freudians such as Wilhelm Riech and Otto Gross, and therapeutic practices advanced by the pioneers of Gestalt Therapy have framed the experience of choice and liberation from structures and norms as therapeutic in itself, with politically significant reverberations. Also, the radical therapeutic interventions of some humanistic psychologists such as Marshall Rosenberg have specifically sought to mobilise motivation in the individual for social and political transformation. Where these critical psychological insights have focused on the development of new personal, interpersonal, and collective skills, they have had the most to offer to transformative practices in relation to political and social dilemmas addressed by anarchist movements.