Depression, once a subfield of neurosis, has become the most diagnosed mental disorder in the world. Why and how has depression become such a topical illness and what does it tell us about changing ideas of the individual and society? Alain Ehrenberg investigates the history of depression and depressive symptoms across twentieth-century psychiatry, showing that identifying depression is far more difficult than a simple diagnostic distinction between normal and pathological sadness - the one constant in the history of depression is its changing definition. Drawing on the accumulated knowledge of a lifetime devoted to the study of the individual in modern democratic society, Ehrenberg shows that the phenomenon of modern depression is not a construction of the pharmaceutical industry but a pathology arising from inadequacy in a social context where success is attributed to, and expected of, the autonomous individual. In so doing, he provides both a novel and convincing description of the illness that clarifies the intertwining relationship between its diagnostic history and changes in social norms and values. The first book to offer both a global sociological view of contemporary depression and a detailed description of psychiatric reasoning and its transformation - from the invention of electroshock therapy to mass consumption of Prozac - The Weariness of the Self offers a compelling exploration of depression as social fact.
LA MULTIPLICATION DE FIGURES DE LA CONQUETE DANS L'ESPACE POLITIQUE, SOCIAL ET MENTAL FRANCAIS SYMBOLISE UN STYLE D'EXISTENCE ET DES NORMES DE CONDUITE EN SCIETE CONSTRUITS A L'AUNE DE LA COMPETITION. QUELLES SONT LES SIGNIFICATIONS DE CES IMAGES NOUVELLES DE LA SOCIETE ET DE L'INDIVIDU? QUELLES SONT LES HYPOTHESES SUSCEPTIBLES D'EN RENDRE COMPTE? TELLES SONT LES DEUX QUESTIONS AUXQUELLES CETTE THESE S'EFFORCE DE REPONDRE A TRAVERS L'ANALYSE DU CHANGEMENT DE STATUT DE LA COMPETITION SPORTIVE, DE LA CONSOMMATION DE MASSE ET DE LA CONCURRENCE ECONOMIQUE QUI FORMENT LES TROIS PARTIES DE CETTE ENQUETE. DEUX HYPOTHESE INTERDEPENDANTES RENDENT COMPTE DE CES CHANGEMENTS : UNE DEFINITION NOUVELLE DE L'ACTEUR DE MASSE QUI SE CONCRETISE DANS LA CONTRAINTE POUR L'INDIVIDU D(OCCUPER UNE PLACE QUI REND VISIBLE SA SEULE SUBJECTIVITE ; UNE INFLEXION DE LA SENSIBILITE EGALITAIRE QUI FAIT DE LA JUSTICE LE PRODUIT DE LA CONCURRENCE. ELLES CORRESPONDENT AU RECUL DE LA REPRESENTATION DE LA SOCIETE EN TERMES DE CLASSES SOCIALES, A LA DISQUALIFICATION DE LA DISCIPLINE COMME METHODE DOMINANTE DE L'EXERCICE DU POUVOIR, A LA CRISE DE LA CULTURE POLITIQUE REPUBLICAINE ET AU PASSAGE D'UNE VISION DE L'AVENIR EN TERMES DE CHANGEMENTS PERMANENTS.
Depression, once a subfield of neurosis, has become the most diagnosed mental disorder in the world. Why and how has depression become such a topical illness and what does it tell us about changing ideas of the individual and society? Alain Ehrenberg investigates the history of depression and depressive symptoms across twentieth-century psychiatry, showing that identifying depression is far more difficult than a simple diagnostic distinction between normal and pathological sadness - the one constant in the history of depression is its changing definition. Drawing on the accumulated knowledge of a lifetime devoted to the study of the individual in modern democratic society, Ehrenberg shows that the phenomenon of modern depression is not a construction of the pharmaceutical industry but a pathology arising from inadequacy in a social context where success is attributed to, and expected of, the autonomous individual. In so doing, he provides both a novel and convincing description of the illness that clarifies the intertwining relationship between its diagnostic history and changes in social norms and values. The first book to offer both a global sociological view of contemporary depression and a detailed description of psychiatric reasoning and its transformation - from the invention of electroshock therapy to mass consumption of Prozac - The Weariness of the Self offers a compelling exploration of depression as social fact.
Cognitive neuroscience, once a specialized area of psychology and biology, has enjoyed increased worldwide legitimacy in the last thirty years not only in psychiatry and mental health, but also in fields as diverse as education, economics, marketing, and law. How can this surge in popularity be explained? Has the new science of human behaviour now become the barometer of our conduct and our lives, taking the place previously occupied by psychoanalysis? Rather than asking if neuronal man will replace social man or how to surmount the opposition between the biological and the social, The Mechanics of Passions uncovers hidden relationships between global social ideals and specialized concepts of neuroscience and cognitive science. Proposing a historical sociology situated in the dual contexts of the history of sciences and the history of self-representation, Alain Ehrenberg describes the conditions through which cognitive neuroscience has developed and acquired a strong moral authority in our individualistic society permeated by ideas, values, and norms of autonomy. Cognitive neuroscience offers the promise of turning personal limitations into assets by exploring an individual's "hidden potential." The Mechanics of Passions identifies this as the echo of social ideals of autonomy, affirming that the moral authority of cognitive neuroscience stems as much from cultural norms as from any results of scientific or medical experimentation.
This book is about the pantheon of the Babylonian city of Uruk, between the 9th and 5th centuries BC. It is a careful analysis of the archive of the Eanna temple in Uruk, the sanctuary of the goddess Ishtar, containing well over 8,000 cuneiform tablets in the Akkadian language. The tablets date in their majority to the Neo-Babylonian and early Achaemenid period. Paul-Alain Beaulieu sheds light on the hierarchy of the local pantheon, providing a wealth of data concerning the cult of each deity, such as identity and theology, ornaments and clothing of the divine image, offerings ceremonies, temples, and cultic personnel. An important contribution to our knowledge of the functioning of religion in Neo-Babylonian society.
The book focuses on the solid-state physics, chemistry and electrochemistry that are needed to grasp the technology of and research on high-power Lithium batteries. After an exposition of fundamentals of lithium batteries, it includes experimental techniques used to characterize electrode materials, and a comprehensive analysis of the structural, physical, and chemical properties necessary to insure quality control in production. The different properties specific to each component of the batteries are discussed in order to offer manufacturers the capability to choose which kind of battery should be used: which compromise between power and energy density and which compromise between energy and safety should be made, and for which cycling life. Although attention is primarily on electrode materials since they are paramount in terms of battery performance and cost, different electrolytes are also reviewed in the context of safety concerns and in relation to the solid-electrolyte interface. Separators are also reviewed in light of safety issues. The book is intended not only for scientists and graduate students working on batteries but also for engineers and technologists who want to acquire a sound grounding in the fundamentals of battery science arising from the interaction of electrochemistry, solid state materials science, surfaces and interfaces.
A revolutionary account of the ancient Greek economy This comprehensive introduction to the ancient Greek economy revolutionizes our understanding of the subject and its possibilities. Alain Bresson is one of the world's leading authorities in the field, and he is helping to redefine it. Here he combines a thorough knowledge of ancient sources with innovative new approaches grounded in recent economic historiography to provide a detailed picture of the Greek economy between the last century of the Archaic Age and the closing of the Hellenistic period. Focusing on the city-state, which he sees as the most important economic institution in the Greek world, Bresson addresses all of the city-states rather than only Athens. An expanded and updated English edition of an acclaimed work originally published in French, the book offers a groundbreaking new theoretical framework for studying the economy of ancient Greece; presents a masterful survey and analysis of the most important economic institutions, resources, and other factors; and addresses some major historiographical debates. Among the many topics covered are climate, demography, transportation, agricultural production, market institutions, money and credit, taxes, exchange, long-distance trade, and economic growth. The result is an unparalleled demonstration that, unlike just a generation ago, it is possible today to study the ancient Greek economy as an economy and not merely as a secondary aspect of social or political history. This is essential reading for students, historians of antiquity, and economic historians of all periods.
Introduction: A New Paradigm p. 1 Part 1 When We Referred to Ourselves in Social Terms 1 The Break p. 9 9/11 Fear A world in decline Where is meaning to be found? 2 Globalization p. 19 From the post-war states to the globalization of the economy An extreme capitalism The rupturing of societies Alter-globalism From society to war A globalized world 3 Europe: A State without a Nation p. 33 Decline of the national state? Is European unity possible? European Union and United States of America The European state European powerlessness The absence of European consciousness 4 The End of Societies p. 44 The social representation of society The European mode of modernization Society and modernity The crisis of representation The three deaths of European society Irruption of democracy The return of the political Farewell to society The war above us When system and actors separate off The rupturing of the social bond Are we witnessing the end of social movements? Conclusion 5 Revisiting the Self p. 71 What is modernity? The victory of modernity The end of social thought Emancipatory individualism Forms of social determinism From focusing on the world to focusing on the self The awakening of the subject Part 2 Now that We Refer to Ourselves in Cultural Terms 6 The Subject p. 101 The subject and identity The sources of the subject Defence of sociology The individual subject Rights Are we all subjects? The negation of the subject A related note The subject, social movements and the unconscious Proximity The subject and religion The subject and the school The experience of being a subject The anti-subject Between gods and societies 7 Cultural Rights p. 144 Political rights and cultural rights Minorities, multiculturalism, communitarianism Redistribution and recognition The new social movements Modernizations Entry into the post-social world Sexual rights The limits of cultural mixing About the 'veil' Communities and communitarianisms Liberals and communitarians Secularism Intercultural communication Return to new ideas 8 A Society of Women p. 184 An altered situation Equality and difference Sexuality and gender The woman-subject The role of men Post-feminism Argument: By Way of Conclusion p. 208 Bibliography p. 211 Index p. 216.
The first of de Benoist's book-length political works to appear in English shows that the problem with democracy is the current understanding of the term, which reduces people to little more than cogs in a machine over which they have no control, and in which the direction is set by politicians with little genuine accountability.
Here is a comprehensive and up to-do-date presentation of the origins, and properties of clay minerals at the Earth ́s surface. The text reviews the relatively simple laws that govern the chemical or isotopic composition and the crystalline structure of clays, and then discusses their genesis and alteration. Concluding chapters show that clay minerals can form in variety of different environments: meteorites, lavas, subduction zones, among others.
In his previous books Alain Touraine analysed the great changes that have transformed our personal and collective lives; in this new book he shows that we need to transform our ways of thinking about these changes. The very idea of society is in crisis: globalization and the liberation of desires from taboos have led to the collapse of the old social order. In our societies today, good and evil can no longer be defined by institutions; self-awareness is more important than the awareness of rules and subjects have become their own creators. Taking as his starting point a critique of what he calls the Dominant Interpretive Discourse, which tried throughout the twentieth century to impose the idea of a society without actors that was subject to various kinds of determinism (especially economic determinism), Touraine argues that the only principle that allows us to evaluate individual behaviour and social situations is the recognition of the political, social and cultural rights of all human beings, who are viewed as free and equal. The individual must be seen as a subject and treated as the cornerstone of a reconstructed sociology. Whereas some denounce individualism, the author celebrates a subjectivation that involves the defence of the rights of all against all modes of social integration. This general line of argument is made concrete through an analysis of the subordination of women, the exclusion of minorities and the difficulties young people face at school and at work. This major new book represents in many ways the culmination of twenty years of theoretical reflection which began with Critique of Modernity and which have established Touraine as one of the leading figures of contemporary social thought.
The memory of the Roman Republic exercised a powerful influence on several generations of Romans who lived under its political and cultural successor, the Principate or Empire. Empire and Memory explores how (and why) that memory manifested itself over the course of the early Principate. Making use of the close relationship between memoria and historia in Roman thought and drawing on modern studies of historical memory, this book offers case-studies of major imperial authors from the reign of Tiberius to that of Trajan (AD 14–117). The memory evident in literature is linked to that imprinted on Rome's urban landscape, with special attention paid to the Forum of Augustus and the Forum of Trajan, both which are particularly suggestive reminders of the transition from a time when the memory of the Republic was highly valued and celebrated to one when its grip had begun to loosen.
Groping around a familiar room in the dark, or learning to read again after a traumatic brain injury; navigating a virtual landscape through an avatar, or envisioning a scene through the eyes of a character—all of these are expressions of one fundamental property of life, Alain Berthoz argues. They are instances of vicariance, when the brain sidesteps an impasse by substituting one process or function for another. In The Vicarious Brain, Creator of Worlds, Berthoz shows that this capacity is the foundation of the human ability to think creatively and function in a complex world. Vicariance is often associated with proxies and delegates, but it also refers to a biological process in which a healthy organ takes over for a defective counterpart. Berthoz, a neuroscientist, approaches vicariance through neuronal networks, asking how, for example, a blind person can develop a heightened sense of touch. He also describes how our brains model physical reality and how we use these models to understand things that are foreign to us. Forging across disciplinary boundaries, he explores notions of the vicarious in paleontology, ethology, art, literature, and psychology. Through an absorbing examination of numerous facets of vicariance, Berthoz reveals its impact on an individual’s daily decision making and, more broadly, on the brain’s creation of worlds. As our personal and social lives are transformed by virtual realities, it is more crucial than ever before that we understand vicariance within our increasingly complex environment, and as an aspect of our own multiplying identities.
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