This document, signed by more than 100 German speaking psychoanalysts, has the following subtitle: «A group of friends of Freudian psychoanalysis of various countries asks psychoanalysts to relinquish their abstinence from politics and reform psychoanalytic training». An historical and sociological overview of psychoanalysis is traced. Psychoanalysis lost its critical power and became a mere therapeutic technique, and psychoanalysts today have little interest in social or political issues. Almost all aspects of life are currently permeated by a culture of economical gain, privatization and competition. Psychoanalysis should rediscover its original goal, namely making individuals more autonomous and free of the standardization of their lives.
Keywords: Psychoanalysis and social commitment, reform of psychoanalytic training, capitalism, politics, sociological history of psychoanalysis