Wieland argues that the Western psyche is based upon denial of the power of the mother. Through clinical material and re-readings of myths, fairytales, and other cultural artefacts, she demonstrates how this act of universal matricide has wrought havoc.

The Fascist State of Mind and the Manufacturing of Masculinity: A psychoanalytic approach attempts to describe in psychoanalytic terms the psychological consequences of massive social trauma and national humiliation, and the regression that takes place within the individual under these circumstances. The book is not about understanding fascism as a historical, political or sociological phenomenon, but about understanding the special relationship between masculinity and fascism and the state of mind which both shaped, and was shaped by, the historical phenomenon of fascism. Christina Wieland...