The New Individualism The Emotional Costs of Globalization REVISED EDITION [Paperback]

This is a new and revised edition of a book which has had a major impact upon the social sciences and public political debate. Anthony Elliott and Charles Lemert's THE NEW INDIVIDUALISM inspired readers with the dramatic suggestion that 'the reinvention craze' - from self-help and therapy culture to management restructurings and corporate downsizings - is central to a 'new individualism' sweeping the globe. Giving particular attention to the narratives of people seeking to define anew their lives in an age of globalization, the authors contend that an endless hunger for instant change and relentless emphasis on self-reinvention is fundamental to grasping the disorientating effects of the new individualism.

This edition contains a substantial new Introduction in which Elliott and Lemert reply to some of the standard criticisms made of the theory of the new individualism, and also addresses the escalation of new individualist thinking in the wake of recent global crises.

Introduction  1. Individualism for Beginners  2. Was the Free Individual Just a Dream?  3. Living in a Privatized World?  4. On the Individualist Arts of Sex  5. The Self and Other Ethical Troubles  6. Surviving the New Individualism

'It's not a business book, but these two sociologists have some interesting things to say about the way we construct our identities in the age of Botox.' Voted into the 50 Best Management Books For 2006 by The Australian Financial Review.

'An inspiring book.'.............Professor Ulrich Beck, British Journal of Sociology

'This thought-provoking book is essential reading for social scientists.'..............Journal of Sociology

'In The New Individualism Anthony Elliott and Charles Lemert have infused high theory with a sense of wlÓ)