The interplay between psychoanalysis, democracy, anomie and fascism is, symptomatically, of paramount importance, particularly when considering the current political landscape and its unfolding developments. We are presently witnessing instances of democratic instability on both national and global scales, characterized especially by threats to fundamental human rights and civil liberties. The fragmentation of essential rights and guarantees within the framework of the Democratic Rule of Law can also be interpreted through the lens of the instability of democratic institutions. As the precarity of the Rule of Law gains prominence in societies, it incites emotions of various kinds. These moments of uncertainty engender passions that can pave the way for totalitarianism or intolerance, alongside
feelings of anguish and social anomie. The consequence of this is the emergence of a fascist discourse that seeks to provide a simplified explanation, attributing social crises to specific social groups. Psychoanalysis, by fundamentally altering the status of the subject through the concept of the “unconscious,” has produced a novel theory concerning social bonds and culture. Drawing upon Freud’s seminal work, Totem and Taboo, we aim to elucidate the understanding of democracy as derived from this foundational text, subsequently presenting its implications and effects, including insights from Mass Psychology and the Analysis of the Self. The notions of “anomie” and fascist discourse will be explored to comprehend the repercussions stemming from the absence of a Democratic Rule of Law. This analysis will culminate in the conception of a social symptom.

Sinan Richards is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at King’s College London. He the author of The Dialectics of Love in Sartre and Lacan (Palgrave, 2023) and a forthcoming work entitled Homo Alienatus: Lacan and Fanon on Freedom and Psychosis (British Academy Monograph, Oxford University Press, 2025).

Pedro Castilho PhD is a psychoanalyst trainer and supervisor at UFMG and also a professor of undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the Faculty ofPsychology of UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais), he has been developing research in the areas of PublicPolicies, Adolescence in Conflict with the Law andPsychoanalysis. Research converges on a possible articulation between Social Theory and Psycho analysis.