... helps critical social theory engage with phenomena such as meaninglessness, isolation, and indifference. By severing alienation's link to a problematic conception of human essence while retaining its social-philosophical content, the book provides resources for a renewed critique of social pathologies...

...This chapter examines the structure of the concept of alienation as well as the problems associated with its critique. Three important points are discussed. First, alienation is tied to the problem of a loss of meaning; an alienated life is one that has become impoverished or meaningless...

..., his cinema often reflects the experience of a specific time from all sides. Although none of them are nostalgic, they are all fleeting, immanent, transient, and ephemeral. Any leaning towards nostalgia is curtailed by meaninglessness in Waking Life (2001), and by madness...