Conclusion: Progress and Its Discontents

Abstract

The final chapter looks at Yuval Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century to examine why liberal academic culture often rejects global progress and focuses on negative portrayals of the world. By using Freud’s fundamental concepts to analyze Harari’s work, I provide a model for psychoanalytic cultural criticism. The goal then of this work is to show that psychoanalysis is not only still relevant today, but in actuality, Freud’s theories and practices have never been more essential for understanding and changing ourselves and the world around us.