WHY DO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT FAIL - NEO-FREUDIANISM AS A CASE-STUDY IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF KNOWLEDGE

A full account of the social production of knowledge requires an under standing of how schools of thought fail, as well as succeed. This pape r offers a sociology of knowledge analysis of the collapse of neo-Freu dianism as a separate school of psychoanalysis and influential intelle ctual current, While the existing literature stresses personal conflic ts between Karen Homey, Erich Fromm and Harry Stack Sullivan as a majo r cause of the failure of cultural psychoanalysis, my analysis highlig hts the sect-like nature of Freudian institutes, the professionalizing dynamics of American psychoanalysis, the contribution of the celebrit y-dominated book market and culture, and the highly controversial natu re of Erich Fromm's writings and intellectual activity. Neo-Freudianis m is conceptualized as a hybrid system that is a combination of a lite rary phenomena, intellectual movement, faction of a sect, theoretical innovation and therapy. This analysis of hybrid intellectual systems r aises larger sociology of knowledge questions about schools of thought and intellectual movements. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.