Description: This is the first English-language translation of an important book that contributes to contemporary debates about social suffering in sociology, social psychology, political theory and philosophy. Renault provides a systematic account of the ways in which social suffering could be conceptualised.
Brief description: Emmanuel Renault is Professor of Social and Political Philosophy at the University of Paris Ouest-Nanterre. He is the author of several books on Marx, Hegel, social philosophy and contemporary critical theory, including The Philosophy of Recognition: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (2009). He is editor of the journal Actual Marx and co-editor of Critical Horizons.
Review Quotes:
"Emmanuel Renault is the leading voice in the new wave of critical theory that has flourished in France in the last two decades. In Social Suffering, he demonstrates through staggeringly rich empirical detail and incisive conceptual analyses how individual experiences of social pathologies, the experiences of social suffering, can form the basis of a consistent critique of modern society. The book is a tour de force of contemporary critical theory, combining in masterful ways sociological, psychological and political reflection." --Jean-Philippe Deranty, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Macquarie University
"In an age where precarious work, social exclusion, disaffection, and extreme poverty shadow the rise of globalized neoliberalism, social suffering is both an ineliminable critical concept for social theory and a crucial field for political action. In an elegant critical integration of sociology, psychology, anthropology, social medicine, history and political philosophy, Renault develops a critical theory of social suffering deftly tailored to current social pathologies." --Christopher F. Zurn, Professor of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts