Psychoanalytic Insights into Social, Political, and Organizational Dynamics

Seth Allcorn is the former Vice President for Business and Finance at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. Dr. Allcorn has more than 20 years of experience working with physicians, hospitals and academic medical centers and organizational consultant specializing in the management of change, strategic planning, and organizational restructuring. He is a founding member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organization. Howard F. Stein is an organizational, applied, psychoanalytic, and medical anthropologist, psychohistorian, organizational consultant, and poet. He is Professor Emeritus of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where he taught for nearly 35 years. He facilitated the American Indian Diabetes Prevention Center’s meetings from 2012 to 2017. He is a long-time member of the International Psychohistorical Association.

• List of FiguresForewordPrefaceAcknowledgementsPermissions Introduction Introduction to Psychoanalytic Theory in Making Sense of the Age of TrumpPART I: Trump the Man, the President Overview of Trump’s Business and Political History Narcissism AutocracyPART II: Charismatic Leaders and Their Sycophants Charismatic Leaders Sycophants and Their Charismatic Leader The Reality of Chaotic LeadershipPART III: The Power of Ideologies Introduction to Ideology Contemporary Right-Wing Ideology and Its Relationship to Shame Deregulation as a Right-Wing Ideology PART IV: The Followers of Trump The Sentience of Followership A Culture of Grievance: Creating Polarization from Chosen Traumas White Supremacy and the Pursuit of Power The Learning Curve

'We find ourselves at a perilous moment in our history and civilization. Government is a critical institution, and if we are to survive the many crises we presently face, we need a deeper and more humane critique of how we got here. If you agree that fascism, authoritarianism, polarization, and narcissism, are enemies of democracy and progressive politics, and are inherently anti-democratic and illiberal, you want to read and reflect on understanding the age of Trump. To do so, one must understand the phenomenon of Trump, the relationship between charisma and sycophantism, the delusional sway of right-wing ideologies, Trump’s followers, and their racial resentments. At a time like this, we need clarity and insight. Allcorn and Stein have successfully given us just that.'Dr. Michael A. Diamond, Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs, University of Missouri, Columbia. The Institute of Psychoanalytic Training and Research & Gould Center for Psychoanalytic Organizational Study and Consultation, New York, New York, U.S.