The Work and Play of Democracy: Growing Relational Citizens

Abstract

As predicted by psychoanalytic theorists who studied authoritarian political trends after World War II, the combination of reduced social connection and significant wealth inequality has once again driven a shift in sociocultural attitudes toward autocracy. Although psychoanalysis has little to offer regarding economic change, psychoanalysts do possess expertise that can be valuable in addressing social atomization and backlash against cultural shifts that threaten the health of our democratic institutions. This paper examines psychoanalytic perspectives on democracy and the relations among individuals and groups that are vital to maintaining this egalitarian form of citizenship. Democratic functioning depends on personality development in early life and on group participation during the school years, adolescence, and early adulthood. The authors define “relational citizenship” as the intersubjective experience of oneself as a generative citizen among citizens and illustrate the operations of this self-state through a vignette from their 2020 Psychoanalytic Community Collaboratory webinar that shows how groups and communities can foster mutuality to create leadership opportunities for collaborative tasks. While traditional Tavistock-based vertical models of group authority might see such interdependence as a deviation from the group task, this example demonstrates that revising notions about optimal group functioning can be beneficial in certain community settings. The authors also suggest that creating “third spaces” within existing communities can help reconnect social bonds broken by pandemic-related anxiety and communication distortions stemming from collective trauma, thus laying the foundation for rebuilding a sense of community.