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Changemakers: Sibling Position, Family Atmosphere, and Questions about The Psychological Roots of Democracy and Dictatorship
May 29, 1992 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm PDT
It is technically very simple to note down the “other” voice in writing and to answer its statements from the standpoint of the ego. It is exactly as if a dialogue were taking place between two human beings with equal rights.
C.G. Jung
Jung’s statement conveys the essence of his method of active imagination, which is a re-activation in psychotherapy of the innate process of individuation. If we look to the socio-political world for the projection of this process, it would appear to be democracy. “A dialogue…between two human beings with equal rights” is the essence of democracy. It is also the essence of true friendship and of true marriage. We need only look to ourselves, to our friends, our spouses, our family, to realize how imperfect is our commitment to “true” democracy. Nevertheless, the ideal exists, and we are often painfully aware when we fail its requirements.
This lecture will take up the influence of family and sibling position on the destiny of the individual and the future of society. Dr. Stewart will look at political leaders and discuss how an individual may be “seized by the spirit,” for good or for evil, democracy or dictatorship in the world. His study reveals a startling, new perspective on the family as it focuses on the largely unconscious factors that determine the use and abuse of power.
LOUIS H. STEWART, PH.D., is a founding member, former president and training analyst of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. He practices in Berkeley and in San Francisco. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and is professor of psychology at San Francisco State University and clinical professor of medical psychology at the University of California, San Francisco. He is author of ” Sandplay Therapy: Jungian Technique” in International Encyclopedia of Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Neurology; “Sandplay and Jungian Analysis” in Jungian Analysis; “Work in Progress: Affect and Archetype” in The Body In Analysis.