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The Social Unconscious: Psychoanalysis Meets Public Consciousness

The Social Unconscious: Psychoanalysis Meets Public Consciousness

Common Concerns vor 6 Monaten

Psychoanalysis Meets Public Consciousness

0:00

41:08

In this episode of our Common Concerns podcast, Xiang Biao
welcomes Dr. Alf Gerlach, senior psychoanalyst and long-time
contributor to the dialogue between psychoanalysis and social
critique. Drawing on his decades of work in Germany and China,
Alf reflects on the intersections of individual psychology and
collective social conditions — particularly through the lens of
the “social unconscious.” He shares how his early engagement with
the Frankfurt School, especially the fusion of psychoanalysis and
critical theory, shaped his approach to understanding both
personal and societal struggles.

Alf discusses the differences and surprising parallels between
psychoanalytic practice and the common concerns approach. While
psychoanalysis focuses on helping individuals uncover repressed
experiences and internal conflicts, the common concerns method
seeks to clarify and structure the often unarticulated worries
people carry in their everyday lives. He and Biao Xiang reflect
on how institutionalization in Germany has, at times, limited the
public role of psychoanalysts, contrasting this with the more
engaged intellectual traditions in France and the Global South.
The conversation reveals how both fields, though different in
method, can deepen our understanding of power, identity, and
social change.