Fear, disappointment and anger, but also shame and love, are firmly embedded in the social arrangements of Western modernity – and are intensively cultivated by its economy, politics and culture. They are psychologically relevant, morally significant, politically effective – and highly ambivalent.
Illouz sheds light on these phenomena in a masterful composition of sociological analyses, historical miniatures and readings of iconic works of world literature. The fading of the American dream and
the fragility of liberal democracy, the hamster wheel of capitalism and the conflicts surrounding identity, but also anti-Semitism, racism and misogyny: without reference to the key feelings of the explosive modern age, they can neither be understood nor contained or combated.

Moderation: Shelly Kupferberg

In German and English.

In cooperation with Sparkasse Bremen.