Moving to Université Paris XatNanterre, he attained further degrees in sociology and economics there. His PhD thesis published in 1978 at Nanterre (Thèse de 3e cycle en sociologie),[2] was a sociological study called Archangels, warriors, military men and sportsmen. Essay on the education of the strong man.[3]
After writing his PhD thesis in 1978, Ehrenberg became interested in the anxieties of the individual in modern society, faced with the need for achievement and autonomy and the loss of social signposts and support systems.[4]
Ehrenberg's work focuses on the emphasis of individualism in contemporary culture, linking this to recent work on depression, mental health, and psycho-analysis.[7]
In 1998 he published a major work on clinical depression, La Fatigue d'être soi, which was translated into six languages,[10] including English (The Weariness of the Self, 2009). In this work, which Rasmus Johnsen, assistant professor at Copenhagen Business School, describes as having "a reputation that makes it worthy of a position as a must-read for anyone with an interest in social philosophy", Ehrenberg argues that depression not simply a disease, and (as paraphrased by Johnsen), has risen "from its status as a secondary phenomenon often associated with other mental illnesses to a challenge that applies to everyone, [and] is a symptom, not necessarily of an increased social pressure on the subject, but of a fundamental transformation in the way individuals understand themselves".[11] In 2015, American political philosopher and writer Matthew Crawford listed this work as one of his six favourite books. He writes that, according to Eherenberg, "depression has replaced guilt as our defining psychic affliction", arising from a sense of inadequacy to perform to our full potential, which we are driven to achieve by modern western culture.[12]
From 1974 to 1977, Ehrenberg taught karate. He has also been a member of many scientific committees and groups focused on mental health, substance abuse, and neuroscience.[2]
Archangels, warriors, military men and sportsmen. Essay on the education of the strong man (PhD thesis, 1978).[3] Supervised by Eugène Enriquez [fr], submitted at the Université Paris X
(In collaboration with Jean-Pierre and Patrick Zylberman Yahi) Archangels, warriors, sportsmen and small perverse genesis of competitive sports and fate of physical violence: Policy Analysis of the promoters of the French and Japanese karate, implantation to the institution, 1953-1976, Organizing Committee for applied research on economic and social development, 1977–1980
The Military Corps: Politics and Pedagogy in a Democracy, Aubier-Montaigne, 1983
Le culte de la performance[7] (The Cult of Achievement), Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1991
L'individu incertain[7] (The Uncertain Individual), Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1995
La fatigue d'être soi : dépression et société. 1998., in English:
La société du malaise[7] (The Uneasy Society), Odile Jacob, Paris, 2010
"What we talk about when we talk about mental health. Toward and anthropology of adversity in individualistic society". In: S. Neckel, A. K. Schafner, G. Wagner. Burnout, Fatigue, Exhaustion: An interdisciplinary Perspective on a Modern Affliction, Palgrave McMillan, 2017, p. 153-172.[10]
E. Nakamura, M. Planche, A. Ehrenberg. "The social aspects in the identification of children's mental health problems in two health services in Paris, France". Interfaces, 22 (65), 2018, p. 411-422.[10]
La Mécanique des passions: Cerveau, comportement, société Odile Jacob, 2018, also published in Italian and German.[10] In English:
Ehrenberg, Alain (2019). "Self control replaces obedience". Kulturaustausch (2: Guilt). "In the past, society made us feel guilty. Today we do it ourselves."
Ehrenberg, Alain (9 December 2020). "The malaise is also a way of living together". Philonomist (Interview). Interviewed by Nicolas, Ariane. "Depression appears as a malfunction affecting our capacity to take action. In a society of autonomy and mass individualism, the question becomes: 'Am I capable of doing things?' " (Speaking about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; updated on 1 February 2022)
