Germany's Hidden Crisis : Social Decline in the Heart of Europe

An Excellent Study Of How Neoliberalism Is Causing A Crisis In Germany One Of The German-speaking World's Leading Young Sociologists Lays Out Modern Germany's Social And Political Crisis And Its Implications For The Future Of The European Hegemon. Upward Social Mobility Represented A Core Promise Of Life Under The Old West German Welfare State, In Which Millions Of Skilled Workers Upgraded Their Vws To Audis, Bought Their First Homes, And Sent Their Children To University. Not So In Today's Federal Republic, However, Where The Gears Of The So-called Elevator Society Have Long Since Ground To A Halt. In The Absence Of The Social Mobility Of Yesterday, Widespread Social Exhaustion And Anxiety Have Emerged Across Mainstream Society. Oliver Nachtwey Analyses The Reasons For This Social Rupture In Post-war German Society And Investigates The Conflict Potential Emerging As A Result, Concluding That Although The Country Has Managed To Muddle Through The Eurocrisis Largely Unscathed Thus Far, Simmering Tensions Beneath The Surface Nevertheless Threaten To Undermine The German System's Stability In The Years To Come-- One Of The German-speaking World's Leading Sociologists Lays Out Modern Germany's Social And Political Crisis And Its Implications For The Future Of The European Hegemon. Upward Social Mobility Represented A Core Promise Of Life Under The Old West German Welfare State, In Which Millions Of Skilled Workers Upgraded Their Vws To Audis, Bought Their First Homes, And Sent Their Children To University. Not So In Today's Federal Republic, Where The Gears Of The So-called Elevator Society Have Long Since Ground To A Halt. In The Absence Of The Social Mobility Of Yesterday, Widespread Social Exhaustion And Anxiety Have Emerged Across Mainstream Society. Oliver Nachtwey Analyses The Reasons For This Social Rupture In Postwar German Society And Investigates The Conflict Potential Emerging As A Result, Concluding That Although The Country Has Managed To Muddle Through The Eurocrisis Largely Unscathed Thus Far, Simmering Tensions Beneath The Surface Nevertheless Threaten To Undermine The German System's Stability In The Years To Come-- Oliver Nachtwey ; Translated By David Fernbach And Loren Balhorn. Translated From The German. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. One of the German-speaking world's leading young sociologists lays out modern Germany's social and political crisis and its implications for the future of the European hegemon. Upward social mobility represented a core promise of life under the'old'West German welfare state, in which millions of skilled workers upgraded their VWs to Audis, bought their first homes, and sent their children to university. Not so in today's Federal Republic, however, where the gears of the so-called'elevator society'have long since ground to a halt. In the absence of the social mobility of yesterday, widespread social exhaustion and anxiety have emerged across mainstream society. Oliver Nachtwey analyses the reasons for this social rupture in post-war German society and investigates the conflict potential emerging as a result, concluding that although the country has managed to muddle through the Eurocrisis largely unscathed thus far, simmering tensions beneath the surface nevertheless threaten to undermine the German system's stability in the years to come.Nachtwey's book was recipient of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation's 2016 Hans-Matth�fer-Preis for Economic Writing. How neoliberalism is causing a crisis in GermanyUpward social mobility represented a core promise of life under the “old” West German welfare state, in which millions of skilled workers upgraded their Volkswagens to Audis, bought their first homes, and sent their children to university. Not so in today's Federal Republic, where the gears of the so-called “elevator society” have long since ground to a halt. In the absence of the social mobility of yesterday, widespread social exhaustion and anxiety have emerged across mainstream society. Oliver Nachtwey analyses the reasons for this social rupture in postwar German society and investigates the conflict potential emerging as a result. He concludes that although the country has managed to muddle through thus far, simmering tensions beneath the surface nevertheless threaten to undermine the German system's stability in the years to come.Recipient of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation 2016 Hans-Matthöfer-Preis for Economic Writing.