The Social Unconscious: Psychoanalysis Meets Public Consciousness

In this episode of our Common Concerns podcast, Xiang Biao welcomes Dr. Alf Gerlach, senior psychoanalyst and long-time contributor to the dialogue between psychoanalysis and social critique. Drawing on his decades of work in Germany and China, Alf reflects on the intersections of individual psychology and collective social conditions — particularly through the lens of the “social unconscious.” He shares how his early engagement with the Frankfurt School, especially the fusion of psychoanalysis and critical theory, shaped his approach to understanding both personal and societal struggles.

Alf discusses the differences and surprising parallels between psychoanalytic practice and the common concerns approach. While psychoanalysis focuses on helping individuals uncover repressed experiences and internal conflicts, the common concerns method seeks to clarify and structure the often unarticulated worries people carry in their everyday lives. He and Biao Xiang reflect on how institutionalization in Germany has, at times, limited the public role of psychoanalysts, contrasting this with the more engaged intellectual traditions in France and the Global South. The conversation reveals how both fields, though different in method, can deepen our understanding of power, identity, and social change.