Late Modern Subjectivity and its Discontents by Keohane, Kieran; Petersen, Anders; van den Bergh, Bert;

Short description:

This book analyses three of the most prevalent illnesses of late modernity: anxiety, depression and Alzheimer’s disease in relation to cultural pathologies of the social body. Arguing that these conditions have a social cultural profile that transcends the particularity of their symptomology, the book contends that these diseases are related to disorders of the collective ésprit de corps of contemporary society. Multi-disciplinary in approach, it addresses questions of how these conditions are manifest at the level of individual bodies and minds and, like other contemporary epidemics, are to be analysed in the light of individual and collective experiences of profound and radical change.

Long description:

 This book analyses three of the most prevalent illnesses of late modernity: anxiety, depression and Alzheimer’s disease, in terms of their relation to cultural pathologies of the social body. Usually these conditions are interpreted clinically in terms of individualized symptoms and responded to discretely, as though for the most part unrelated to each other. However, these diseases also have a social and cultural profile that transcends their particular symptomologies and etiologies. Anxiety, depression and Alzheimer’s are diseases related to disorders of the collective esprit de corps of contemporary society.

Multidisciplinary in approach, the book addresses questions of how these conditions are manifest at both the individual and collective levels in relation to hegemonic biomedical and psychologistic understandings. Rejecting such reductive diagnoses, the authors argue that anxiety, depression and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as other contemporary epidemics, are to be analysed in the light of individual and collective experiences of profound and radical changes in our civilization. A diagnosis of our times, Late Modern Subjectivity and its Discontents will appeal to a broad range of scholars with interests in health and illness, the sociology of medicine and contemporary life.

'This book is a much welcome contribution to the study of contemporary social pathologies. Based on analyses of late modern subjectivity, the authors present original and thought-provoking cultural readings of anxiety, depression and Alzheimer’s disease. The book will challenge every reader to think anew about these phenomena.' - Svend Brinkmann, University of Aalborg, Denmark

'This fantastic collections of essays takes seriously Freud's observation that malaise in civilization affects malaise of the individuals. The authors show how neoliberal society today contributes to people's psychological and physical suffering. In a groundbreaking way, they link the rise of anxiety, depression and Alzheimer's disease to social changes that we are experiencing in today's capitalism. For anyone wanting to understand why people are suffering so much in the developed world, these essays are essential read!' - Renata Salecl, Birkbeck, University of London, U.K

Table of Contents:

Notes on contributors

Preface

1. Introduction to a Series

2. Modern Subjectivity / Postmodern Subjectivity (Dany-Robert Dufour)

3. Return to an Age of Anxiety – The Embedding of a Late Modern Social Pathology

4. Sadean Depression and the Work of Culture

5. Alzheimer’s Disease: a Social Pathology of Contemporary Civilization

6. A Research Prospective

Index