Weight Of The World - Social Suffering In Contemporary Society

Under the direction of Pierre Bourdieu, a team of sociologists spent three years analysing the new forms of social suffering that characterize contemporary societies - the suffering of those who are denied the means of acquiring a socially dignified existence, as well as the suffering of those who are poorly adjusted to the rapidly changing condition of their lives.
This book can be read like a series of short stories - the story of a steelworker who was laid off after twenty years in the same factory and who now struggles to support his family on unemployment benefits and a part-time job; the story of a trade unionist who finds his goals undermined by the changing nature of work; the story of a family from Algeria living on a housing estate on the outskirts of Paris whose members have to cope with pervasive, everyday forms of racism; the story of a schoolteacher confronted with urban violence; and many others as well. Reading these stories enables one to understand these people's lives and the forms of social suffering which are part of them. The reader will also see that this book offers not only a distinctive method for analysing social life, but another way of practising politics.

Pierre Bourdieu is Professor of Sociology at the College de France and Director of Studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.