Absolute Freedom. The l+l (lndividuation + lndividualization) as a Metanarrative of Self-Development in a Second-Late-Modern Society

In this work I attempt a comparative study of C.G. Jung´s Individuation process and U. Beck´s Individualization theory, which will lead to a merger between the two into a new concept: the ‘I+I’. The ‘I+I’, the concept of Individuation in a second-late-modern (individualized) society, takes Beck´s individualization theory as a valid picture of second modernity and merges it with Jung´s individuation process. The ‘I+I’ is an attempt to claim that to become free in second-late modernity, and thereby to fulfil their destiny, people need to individuate once being individualized. The novelty of this research consists in the support it provides to current social theory and psychoanalytic research as well as its reinforcement of the discourse undertaken by psychosocial studies and by relational psychoanalysis. In this work I underline that Jung´s individuation´s theory is a possible frame (not the only one) to ascertain the lacks within Beck´s theory of individualization (therefore traditional sociology). From this, I investigate the concept of freedom (according to Jung and Beck) and then shift to what I term absolute freedom, which is our innate striving for wholeness, in a second-late-modern (individualized) society. Absolute freedom is a possible consequence of the ‘I+I’ merger and considers a social and psychic point of view in the study of the individual and society. In order to clarify my analytic generalization I shall examine a clinical case. Specifically, I will look into the biography of a patient of mine, Carla, from three different points of view: individuation, individualization, and the ‘I+I’. My conclusions will underline that (i) Beck´s research is fundamental to portraying and understanding late modernity; that (ii) a renewed look at Jung´s individuation process is a helpful tool to examine our current epoch; that (iii) it could be beneficial to employ relational psychoanalysis and psychosocial studies into the current investigation, and hence to develop a Jungian-relational-psychosocial model. The ‘I+I’ is an attempt to claim that to become free in a second-late modernity, therefore, to fulfil one´s destiny, people need to individuate once being individualized.