ABSTRACT
To understand Jung’s analysis of the rise of mass movements like fascism, Nazism and communism, not to mention reactionary and extremist movements today, we must first grasp his basic psychological theories. This chapter deals with Jungian concepts such as the collective unconscious, the archetypes and individuation. It explores the impact of the Enlightenment, scientific rationalism and subsequent modern secularism on the healthy functioning of human psychology. Jung’s thesis is that the growth of secular and often tyrannical “isms” is related to our growing spiritual impoverishment and disbelief. From this viewpoint, contemporary Islamic extremism and surging ethno-nationalisms in Europe, the United States and beyond, are related—they represent a backlash against the secularizing and homogenizing aspects of globalization. The chapter also introduces other authors who have spoken to aspects of the modern crisis, including Jacques Ellul, Leo Strauss and, particularly, Charles Taylor.
