The role and the meaning of work in Freud’s cultural writings

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to consider the role and the meaning attributed to the concept of ‘work’ by an analysis of Freud’s cultural writings. It concludes that there are important deficiencies in Freudian theorization about this topic which have led to the naturalization of man and society and, as a result, to an ahistorical view of social processes, aspects frequently pointed out in the criticism made of Freud’s work