Alain Ehrenberg is Professor of Sociology at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris, where he is also the Director of the Centre de Recherche Psychotropes, Santé Mentale, Société. His current research focuses on a project entitled Cerveau, Esprit, Société. Afflictions individuelles et relations sociales à l’âge de l’autonomie généralisée, that combines a focus on societies treatment of mental health with a critical inquiry into the current research on emotions in the sciences, humanities, and philosophy. His many published and edited works include Le Corps militaire: Politique et pédagogie en démocratie (1983), Le culte de la performance (1991), L’individu incertain (1995) and La Fatigue d’être soi: dépression et société (1998), translated into German as Das erschöpfte Selbst (2004).