From June 8th through the 11th, I participated in the 3rd annual Erich Fromm Conference, which took place at the International Psychoanalytic University in Berlin, Germany, in the Erich Fromm Study Center, organized by Reiner Funk (seen in the picture above). Our theme this year was on the need for “Humanistic Transformation” of self and society. I presented my work on Saturday, June 10th, regarding Erich Fromm’s dialectical approach to religion, wherein he determinately negates the exterior of Judaism, Christianity, and Buddhism, while rescuing its inner-truths psychoanalytically. My session was well attended and I received some interesting questions from the audience. It is clear that Erich Fromm’s work continues to be a source for critique of capitalist modernity, as well as the once-again rising forms of rightwing authoritarianism, which itself in many ways is a reaction to democratic, capitalist, and globalized modernity. Erich Fromm’s one time assistant, Reiner Funk, presided over the conference, with the help of Thomas Kühn, Hannah Wippermann, Katrin Voigt. I was happy to see some familiar friends, Jeremiah Morelock, Joan Braune, Lauren Langman, and Michael Thompson, as well as my dear brothers and members of the Institute for Critical Social Theory, Seyed Javad Miri, Michael Naughton, and Mehdi Shariati. Seyed Javad Miri gave a master class in how to present one’s work at an international conference; he dazzled the crowd with his presentation on anxiety as a means of growth. Below are some of the pictures from the conference.
dustinjbyrd
Dustin J. Byrd, Ph.D. 
Leave a comment