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Abstract
We examine xenophobia from the perspective of the unconscious of individuals, groups and nations, emphasizing the role of fantasy, and arguing that some leaders use xenophobic discourse to exploit fantasies arising from emotions such as anxiety, fear and anger. We discuss this in the context of the public sphere as conceptualized by Habermas. We illustrate this with reference to an analysis of the psychic life of ‘Brexit’, the UK decision to exit the European Union in 2016, arguing that Brexit was one expression of the unconscious life of a nation. We contribute to our understanding of xenophobia and the role of psychodynamic forces within the public sphere by highlighting the key role of the unconscious and its ability to be influenced by leaders. We conclude by reflecting on how we might work to counter xenophobia and its fantasies.
Highlights
We examine xenophobia from the perspective of the unconscious of individuals, groups and nations, emphasizing the role of fantasy, and arguing that some leaders use xenophobic discourse to exploit fantasies arising from emotions such as anxiety, fear and anger
It reflects a sense of individual, group and national identity narrowly defined in terms of an ethnocentrism (Levine and Campbell, 1972) that generates intolerance and aggressive rejection of those perceived as not belonging to your national group, manifested in the tendency of individuals and groups to identify with in-groups and reject out-groups
We focus on this dynamic in an examination of the unconscious forces at play in Brexit, the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union
Summary
A key assumption of psychoanalysis is that the unconscious plays a key role in social and individual life (Gabriel, 2011). Unscrupulous leaders exploit the psychic life of their followers by appeals to their unconscious emotions and desires, feeding in particular their anxieties, shaping these through leadership discourse This, in both the case of both leader and follower, is a way of dealing with existential challenges felt deep in their lives that are projected onto the other. Leaders imbued with one or more of the dark traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism or psychopathy, and with an exaggerated sense of their own power and capabilities, capitalize on the fears of their followers (Fotaki and Harding, 2012) Dangerous are those leaders who feel that it is their destiny to make history, that it is their role to express their own intrinsic mastery by imposing their fantasy of order and leading their followers into the brave new world they imagine. ‘Regulation means coercion of the individual, anarchic and rebellious by nature, by the power of the community’ (Lothane, 2012, p. 526). Richard (2011, p. 2), analysing present-day forms of discontent with culture from a Freudian perspective, argues that there is a constant tension between civilization and a regressive tendency towards ‘barbarism’, ‘social morality winding up living in cynical cohabitation with a destructiveness that no longer even tries to conceal itself ... hungry for immediate gratifications and intolerant of any withholding of its needs or resistance’
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