Theories of alienation had a long history, burgeoned since the 1960s, yet almost disappeared in recent decades – but in his book, Christoph Henning brings these theories back on the agenda, to better account for contemporary social pathologies. Feelings of estrangement, of not feeling at home in the world, in one’s own body or surroundings, are widespread in contemporary societies. They go hand in hand with loneliness, with a burnout, with depression, or with anger and hatred. But where do they come from, what do they signify?
Henning tracks theories of alienation from three different traditions: a conservative approach from Rousseau to Hartmut Rosa explains alienation with change and is based on nostalgia; a liberal approach from Simmel to Rahel Jaeggi relies on individual autonomy and explains it as a loss of control; and a third, Aristotelian approach from Humboldt to Marx or British idealism, based on theories of flourishing, relies on a perfectionist anthropology and critical social theory. In doing so, Henning vividly reconstructs these traditions with contemporary examples and excursions into the movies. Theories of Alienation: From Rousseau to the Present shines important new light on this important field of contemporary social philosophy and is very approachable to the general reader.
1. Introduction: Speaking of Alienation
2. Being outside oneself as a state of emergency: Alienation in the works of Rousseau
3. Schiller, Humboldt, Fichte: Art and Education as a Counterweight to alienation
4. Hegel: Reversing and Intensifying Alienation inside the System
5. In God we trust, or Religion and Money: Ludwig Feuerbach and Moses Hess
6. Karl Marx: Autonomous Development and Radical Practice
7. Critiques of alienation critique: Simmel, Plessner and Gehlen
8. Sociological theories of alienation: from Weberian Marxism to empiricism
9. A false reversal or an amplification of alienation? Recent debates in ‘new’ critical theory
10. Between nostalgia and freedom: on the future of alienation critique
11. Literature
Biography
Christoph Henning is Chair for Philosophy and Humanism at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht, The Netherlands, and associated Fellow at the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt, Germany. He has published widely on social, political and economic philosophy, on Marxism, and the history of critical theory.
“Alienation is a complex philosophical concept – and a manifest social reality. Christoph Henning’s eye-opening book strikingly succeeds in illuminating the one through the other. I can enthusiastically recommend it to anyone interested in social theory and philosophy.”
Hartmut Rosa, Director of the Max Weber Centre, University of Erfurt, and Professor of Sociology at the University of Jena
“Alienation is not only a problem of the capitalist organization of work and production. Today, alienation also defines the societal relationship to politics and nature. Christoph Henning's book therefore comes at the right time. It shows us how topical this central concept of social philosophy still is - and how important it is to rediscover its critical potential."
Stefan Lessenich, Director of the Institute for Social Research
"Alienation is not dead. In order to understand the deep crisis of today's crisis of capitalism, it is necessary to comprehend the concept of alienation. This book offers what you all need to know."
Kohei Saito, Prof. at Osaka University
"Just when you thought that nothing new could be said about alienation, Christoph Henning shows us how enduring and relevant a concept it is. His book is scholarly but with a profound relevance for the present. In an age of creeping AI and new generations dissociated by screens, Henning's exploration of the concept of alienation reminds us to keep what is human squarely in view."
Michael J. Thompson, Prof. of Political Theory, William Paterson University
"A brilliant introduction to theories of alienation reaching back as far as the 18th century. Henning applies the concept persuasively and effortlessly to some of the most pertinent questions of current politics, popular culture, ecology or consumerism."
Eva Maria Ziege, Prof. of Political Sociology, University of Bayreuth
