Elovitz as a Leader of Psychohistory

Review Essays on Paul H. Elovitz, The Making of Psychohistory: Origins, Controversies, and Pioneering Contributors (New York and London: Routledge, 2018), ISBN 978-1-138-58749-6, 138 pages, paperback, $38.95, hardbound, $140.

The Making of Psychohistory by Paul H. Elovitz has valid historical attributes, in accordance with the author’s PhD in modern European history. The book identifies and evaluates many contributors to psychohistory. Each of the 13 chapters contains scholarly endnotes. The value of the book is increased by its autobiographical information on one of the most prominent contemporary psychohistorians. The author has convened and led many discussions of psychohistorical topics, founded and edits the periodical Clio’s Psyche, has participated in all the annual meetings of the International Psychohistorical Association, even serving as the president early in its history. He is author of many publications in Clio’s Psyche, The Journal of Psychohistory, and in other periodicals and books.

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The titles of six of the 14 chapters indicate focus on builders of psychohistory: The Early History of Psychohistory; Comparing the Early Freudian and Psychohistorical Movements; A Psychohistorian’s Approach to Infancy and Childhood; Prominent Psychohistorians; Outstanding Psychohistorians Gay, Loewenberg, and Binion; and Builders of Psychohistory. Appendix A lists 68 Scholars, Editors, and Authors. Appendix B lists 56 Memorials.

However, the book does contain some derogatory information about Erikson. Most historians are hostile to psychohistory, especially extreme assertions by Lloyd deMause, who desired disciples instead of colleagues and was sometimes careless in his scholarship. Freud was a meticulous scholar, although his historical materials were often far too speculative.

The titles of five chapters indicate their autobiographical emphasis: My Exuberant Journey; My Journey as a Psychohistorical Teacher; My Role in Creating and Nurturing Postgraduate Psychohistorical Education; The Dilemmas of a Presidential Psychohistorian; and Finding my Voice with Halpern, deMause, and Ullman. The autobiographical information in this book is an asset because Paul Elovitz is currently the principal contributor to psychohistory as founder and editor of Clio’s Psyche. Lloyd deMause, who founded The Journal of Psychohistory, has been replaced. That journal publishes longer but much fewer articles than Clio’s Psyche.

Teaching of psychohistory by Paul Elovitz focused on unconscious motivation and childhood, including birth position, coping mechanisms, dreams, emotions, group fantasies, and trauma. He published in psychohistory periodicals his ambivalent support of Jimmy Carter for President and evaluations of subsequent Presidents Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and especially Donald Trump.

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