CAIN, ABEL, AND SOLIDARITY: FRATERNITY IN TIMES OF FRATRICIDAL WARS

Abstract

This article explores the concept of fraternity through the contributions of various psychoanalytic authors. The question of fraternity produces subjectivity insofar as we recognize ourselves with others in difference. Sometimes, this difference leads to a parity that is linked to a creative, joyful power; and other times, it (un)links with a disempowering effect that causes alienation or rupture of bonds. Clinical examples are offered where the relational perspective for working with suffering at the level of fraternity demonstrates its contribution to the psychotherapeutic task.