Die Prüfungen des Lebens

The state as a guarantor of security: An increasing number of citizens in Western democracies no longer share this understanding. What is the reason for this? Where does the anger of many people, who are mobilizing online or in the streets, come from?

At the center of Pierre Rosanvallon's new book are the trials of life, personal experiences with contempt, injustice, discrimination, and uncertainty. He focuses on diverse movements such as Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, and the Yellow Vests, and addresses the consequences of insecurity brought about by climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rosanvallon's precise description of the present culminates in a plea for a new art of governance, a politics of respect, dignity, and attention to lived realities. This is the only alternative to the dangers posed by populism on one side and technoliberalism and the politics of isolation on the other.

This book marks a new stage in the work of the renowned democracy researcher, dedicated to the subjective dimension of society, a redefinition of the social question, and the conditions for consolidating democratic life.