Books / Culture, power & critical voices
Escape from Freedom
In Escape from Freedom (1941), Erich Fromm offers a social-psychological account of freedom, isolation and authoritarianism. This entry identifies the original US edition.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Erich Fromm
Edition: 1941 US edition; a Holt paperback followed in 1994
Publisher: Farrar & Rinehart
Edition year: 1941
Original title: Escape from Freedom (UK title: The Fear of Freedom)
Language and origin: English (Germany / United States)
Form and genre: Cultural & Historical Critique
Level: Intermediate
Historical era: 1940–1959 · Object Relations, Existential & Client-Centred
Covers: Freedom and isolation in Fromm’s social theory; Authoritarianism, destructiveness and conformity; Fromm’s account of freedom and democracy
APA 7th reference: Fromm, E. (1941). Escape from freedom. Farrar & Rinehart.
What it is & historical context
Fromm published Escape from Freedom in the United States in 1941 with Farrar & Rinehart. The later Holt paperback carries a different ISBN and is not the edition identified here.
Core clinical themes & arguments
Fromm proposed that changes in social life could bring both independence and insecurity, and discussed authoritarianism, destructiveness and conformity as responses. This is a historical interpretation rather than a single established explanation of political behaviour.
Clinical practice, reception & legacy
The work connects psychoanalytic ideas with an analysis of society and politics. Its publisher’s summary does not establish a clinical outcome or a direct influence on any particular later theory.
Reader level & educational scope
This intermediate entry offers historical context. Publisher and library records were consulted; the full book and paired research volume were not reviewed.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: The Authoritarian Personality (Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, and R. Nevitt Sanford, 1950)
Reference: Adorno, T. W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D. J., & Sanford, R. N. (1950). The authoritarian personality. Harper & Brothers.
A 1950 research volume on authoritarianism. The catalogue record was not used to establish a direct line of influence from Fromm.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: Fromm examined freedom and the appeal of authoritarianism in modern society. (The publisher describes the book’s argument; its full text was not reviewed for this entry.) [Source 1: Macmillan. Escape from freedom: 1994 Holt paperback.]
Sources and inspection notes
Macmillan. Escape from freedom: 1994 Holt paperback.
Supports: Publisher identifies the 1994 paperback and ISBN, and describes the book’s subject; the full book was not reviewed.
Richland Library. Escape from freedom: catalogue record.
Supports: Library record distinguishes the 1994 Holt paperback from the 1941 Farrar & Rinehart first publication.