Hartmut Rosa is a leading social theorist and his books on social acceleration and resonance have become milestones in discussions about the problems and promises of late modern societies. Rosa not only presents a critical diagnosis of our times but also searches for innovative solutions.
This new collection of Rosas essays provides an overview of his work and explores key topics and concepts in depth. Among the topics discussed are Charles Taylors account of alienation, self-interpretation and social critique; the theory of acceleration and the challenges for identity formation and democratic politics in the high-speed society; the theory of resonance and its relation to alienation and uncontrollability; and the relation between social theory and moral philosophy. Among other things, this volume highlights the influence of Charles Taylors social philosophy on Rosas work and it brings out the architecture of Rosas social theory, in particular the opposition between the concepts of resonance and alienation. In a substantial introduction, Frédéric Vandenberghe provides a comprehensive overview of Rosas work.
This volume, by one of the most creative and influential social theorists writing today, will be essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary social theory, critical theory and the sociology of late modernity.
Publishers Note
In defence of inconsistency: A note on Hartmut Rosa in English
Christophe Fricker
Introduction: Moral maps, time structures and world-relations
Frédéric Vandenberghe
1. Four levels of self-interpretation
A paradigm for interpretive social philosophy and political criticism
2. Social Acceleration
Ethical and political consequences of a desynchronized high-speed society
3. Critique of temporality
Acceleration and alienation as key concepts of social critique
4. Dynamic Stabilization, the Triple A Approach to the Good Life, and the
Resonance Conception
5. Is there anybody out there?
Muted and resonant relationships to the world monomaniac Charles
Taylors analytical focus
6. Resonance
A key concept in social theory
7. Why we live the way we live
On the philosophy, sociology and politics of life as a practice
Acknowledgements
Notes
Index
Hartmut Rosa is Professor of Sociology at the Institute of Sociology at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, and Director of the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt, Germany.
