The Multicultural Relevance of Erikson's 'Young Man Luther: A Study in Psychoanalysis and History'

Abstract

This article proposes that Erikson's Young Man Luther, published over half a century ago, in 1958, still retains its importance and relevance for facilitating our understanding of the conditions of success in identity development work among young people growing up in our contemporary, multicultural, unstable, and technologically advanced societies. This conclusion is informed by the fact that its ingenious description and analysis of the course of identity crisis and resolution in the life of Martin Luther is found to be highly consistent with the valuable new construct of “developmental individualisation” formulated by Côté and his colleagues to explain the identity development trajectories of creative, visionary young people, like Luther, in uncertain times and unstable societies like ours. A review of Erikson's Young Man Luther against the background of this important construct was undertaken to sharpen a new appreciation of Erikson's identity theory in the fields of human and personality development.