"Общество спектакля" было в первый раз опубликовано в издательстве "Бюше Шастель" в Париже в ноябре 1967 года. События 1968-го сделали книгу известной. Книга, в которой не меняли ни единого слова, переиздавалась с 1971 года в издательстве "Шан Либр", которое в 1984 году после убийства редактора было названо именем Жерара Лебовичи. Затем регулярно, вплоть до 1991 года, следовала серия переизданий. Настоящее издание также остается строго тождественным изданию 1967 года.

Начав свою карьеру как социолог, Жан Бодрийяр (род. в 1929 г.) сегодня является одним из известнейших мировых мыслителей, исследующих феномен так называемого «постмодерна» — новейшего состояния западной цивилизации, которое характеризуется разрастанием искусственных, неподлинных образований и механизмов, симулякров

Although the end of the Cold War was greeted with great enthusiasm by people in the East and the West, the ensuing social and especially economic changes did not always result in the hoped-for improvements in people s lives. This led to widespread disillusionment that can be observed today all across Eastern Europe. Not simply a longing for security, stability, and prosperity, this nostalgia is also a sense of loss regarding a specific form of sociability. Even some of those who opposed communism express a desire to invest their new lives with renewed meaning and dignity. Among the younger generation, it surfaces as a tentative yet growing curiosity about the recent past. In this volume scholars from multiple disciplines explore the various fascinating aspects of this nostalgic turn by analyzing the impact of generational clusters, the rural-urban divide, gender differences, and political orientation. They argue persuasively that this nostalgia should not be seen as a wish to restore the past, as it has otherwise been understood, but instead it should be recognized as part of a more complex healing process and an attempt to come to terms both with the communist era as well as the new inequalities of the post-communist era.

In an age of government imposed austerity, and after 30 years of neo-liberal restructuring, the future of the welfare state looks increasingly uncertain. Asbjørn Wahl offers an accessible analysis of the situation across Europe, identifies the most important challenges, and presents practical proposals for combating the assault on welfare. Wahl argues that the welfare state should be seen as the result of a class compromise forged in the 20th century, which means that it cannot easily be exported internationally. He considers the enormous shifts in power relations and the profound internal changes to the welfare state which have occurred during the neo-liberal era, pointing to the paradigm shift that the welfare state is going through. This is illustrated by the shift from welfare to workfare and increased top-down control. A fascinating study in its own right, that will appeal to students of economics and politics. The Rise and Fall of the Welfare State also points to an alternative way forward for the trade union movement based on concrete examples of struggles and alliance-building.