Aspects of male sexuality enmeshing with rise of fascism in India: Tentative psychoanalytical explorations

Abstract

AbstractThis exploration assumes the universality of certain aspects of the psyche which enmesh with an ideology like fascism, while examining the phenomenon in India. It attempts to understand the support of a sizable section of people to the discernible growth of fascism in the past three decades in Indian society. The purpose is to explore group processes and individual psyche. The article attempts to articulate the factors—pre‐dominantly unconscious—in the psyche of the Indian Hindu male which might fit into or play a role in the mobilization toward a fascist political and social agenda. The nature of marital relations in society and the close “mother–son” bond are examined in the context of the development of the personality of a growing boy. The extreme suppression of sexuality, valorization of celibacy, idealization of mother, the model of the obedient son with no room for ambivalence and the feelings of inadequacy, frustrations and rage engendered form a central focus. The processes of splitting, idealization, and projective identification which result in the demonization by the Hindu community of the “other” Muslim community leading to violence are examined in this context. Evolving collective processes of acknowledging and taking back the split “dirty” parts at a community level instead of projecting onto the “other” as a way forward toward more harmonious relations.