The devil his due: Psychohistory and psychosocial studies

Abstract

This paper revisits and reevaluates the Eriksonian branch of psycho-historians, whose academic influence peaked in the early 1970s before falling largely out of sight by the start of the twenty-first century. Why did what I argue was an unwarranted eclipse occur? The foremost figures in this loose grouping were Erikson himself, Robert J. Lifton, Kenneth Keniston, and Robert Coles. What can the comparatively new field of psychosocial studies usefully learn and integrate from these mostly neglected predecessors? I examine how this widespread academic amnesia set in and explain the relevance of the Eriksonian tradition, relate ways in which psycho-historians trailblazed psychosocial studies, address the importance of an intrinsic “activist ingredient” in such ventures, and argue that both psychohistory and psychosocial studies stand to benefit greatly from such an intellectual exchange.