Alain Ehrenberg

Alain Ehrenberg (born 1950) is a French sociologist, known for his major work on clinical depression, The Weariness of the Self. His work focuses on the culture of individualism in modern times, and its relationship to mental health. he is research director at the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris.

Early life and education Ehrenberg was born in Paris, France, in 1950.

In 1968 he achieved his Baccalauréat. In 1972 earned Master of Science in management at Université Paris IX (Dauphine). was a sociological study called Archangels, warriors, military men and sportsmen. Essay on the education of the strong man.

He wrote a second sociology thesis in 1991 (Thèse en sociologie (nouveau régime)) at Université Paris VII (Jussieu Campus).

After being a researcher at the Edgar Morin Centre at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, in 1994 Ehrenberg founded and co-directed the research group "Psychotropics, Politics, Society" (Centre de recherche Psychotropes, Santé mentale, Société, aka CESAMES). where Ehrenberg is professor of sociology. Since 2001, he has worked with a government research institute for human health. including English (The Weariness of the Self, 2009). In this work, which Rasmus Johnsen, assistant professor at Copenhagen Business School, describes as having "a reputation that makes it worthy of a position as a must-read for anyone with an interest in social philosophy", Ehrenberg argues that depression not simply a disease, and (as paraphrased by Johnsen), has risen "from its status as a secondary phenomenon often associated with other mental illnesses to a challenge that applies to everyone, [and] is a symptom, not necessarily of an increased social pressure on the subject, but of a fundamental transformation in the way individuals understand themselves". In 2015, American political philosopher and writer Matthew Crawford listed this work as one of his six favourite books. He writes that, according to Eherenberg, "depression has replaced guilt as our defining psychic affliction", arising from a sense of inadequacy to perform to our full potential, which we are driven to achieve by modern western culture.

Current position Ehrenberg is a director of research at the CNRS

Other activities From 1974 to 1977, Ehrenberg taught karate. He has also been a member of many scientific committees and groups focused on mental health, substance abuse, and neuroscience.

Selected works Archangels, warriors, military men and sportsmen. Essay on the education of the strong man (PhD thesis, 1978). Supervised by , submitted at the Université Paris X (In collaboration with Jean-Pierre and Patrick Zylberman Yahi) Archangels, warriors, sportsmen and small perverse genesis of competitive sports and fate of physical violence: Policy Analysis of the promoters of the French and Japanese karate, implantation to the institution, 1953-1976, Organizing Committee for applied research on economic and social development, 1977–1980 The Military Corps: Politics and Pedagogy in a Democracy, Aubier-Montaigne, 1983 Le culte de la performance (The Cult of Achievement), Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1991 L'individu incertain (The Uncertain Individual), Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1995 , in English:

La société du malaise (The Uneasy Society), Odile Jacob, Paris, 2010 "What we talk about when we talk about mental health. Toward and anthropology of adversity in individualistic society". In: S. Neckel, A. K. Schafner, G. Wagner. Burnout, Fatigue, Exhaustion: An interdisciplinary Perspective on a Modern Affliction, Palgrave McMillan, 2017, p. 153-172. E. Nakamura, M. Planche, A. Ehrenberg. "The social aspects in the identification of children's mental health problems in two health services in Paris, France". Interfaces, 22 (65), 2018, p. 411-422. La Mécanique des passions: Cerveau, comportement, société Odile Jacob, 2018, also published in Italian and German. In English:

In film Nervousness in civilization. From the cult of performance to psychic collapse, , SFRS, Vanves, 2001, 76' (DVD)