Suicide : the hidden side of modernity / by Christian Baudelot and Roger Establet ; translated by David Macey.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this major new study Christian Baudelot and Roger Establet provide a timely and wide-ranging account of the changing nature of suicide in the world today. The suicide rate is soaring in the former Communist bloc, in India and in China, which now has the highest female suicide rate in the world. This rise coincides with those countries accelerated entry into a period of brutal modernization. In the developed countries of the West, suicide rates are rising fastest amongst young men and those social groups that are furthest down the social scale. How can we explain these trends and what do they tell us about modern societies?

The social impact of suicide has preoccupied sociologists from Emile Durkheim onwards. For Durkheim, the rising suicide rate was an effect of the rise of modernity and the individualism, growing affluence and increased anomie that accompanied it. Baudelot and Establet draw upon Durkheim and his successor Maurice Halbwachs to argue that classic sociological theories of suicide require some modification. The link between suicide, affluence and individualism is more complex: suicide rates do reflect broad social trends but they are also influenced by the structural position and lived experience of small social groups. The notion of social well-being is demonstrated to be a key factor in changes in suicide rates. Whilst it is well-known that sociology cannot explain why individuals commit suicide, the suicide of individuals and the micro-groups to which they belong can tell us a lot about the societies in which they live.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of figures, maps and tables (p. ix)
• Acknowledgements (p. xiii)
• Introduction: Suicide and Society (p. 1)
• The contribution of social anthropology (p. 2)
• It isn't society that sheds light on suicide, but rather suicide that sheds light on society (p. 7)
• Suicide: unravelling an enigma (p. 9)
• 1 Does Poverty Protect? (p. 13)
• Suicide and wealth around the world (p. 14)
• In rich countries, it is in poor areas that suicide occurs (p. 17)
• Are there growing inequalities? (p. 18)
• 2 Take-off ... (p. 23)
• India 1950-2000: an economic giant is born and suicide takes off (p. 28)
• 1980-2000: China awakens and suicide rates rise (p. 31)
• 3 The Great Turning Point (p. 37)
• 'England brings us a surprise!' (p. 39)
• France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the twists and turns in the evolution of suicide (p. 43)
• 1900-1948: the parallel between suicide and growth breaks down (p. 51)
• 1949-1978: strong growth, stable suicide rates (p. 53)
• 1979-1995: slower growth, more suicides (p. 55)
• Classic evolution in England (p. 57)
• 4 The Trente Glorieuses (p. 61)
• State-orchestrated growth (p. 61)
• Aggravating factors ... (p. 63)
• ... And protective factors: creative individualism (p. 70)
• 5 The Soviet Exception (p. 81)
• The world leader (p. 81)
• Anatomy of society and black-out (p. 85)
• Suicide and industrialization: a forced march (p. 91)
• And then there was light ... long live French demography! (p. 93)
• 6 The Oil Crisis and Suicide amongst the Young (p. 101)
• France: young people at risk, while the old are protected (p. 104)
• There is no French exception ... (p. 108)
• ... But there are Japanese and German exceptions (p. 110)
• The end of the Italian miracle and British complacency (p. 115)
• Taking the social dimensions of age seriously (p. 118)
• 7 Suicide and Social Class: An Overview (p. 123)
• The American geography of suicide (p. 124)
• French departements: income tax and suicide (p. 124)
• Ken Loach's devastated England versus Blair-Thatcher's Greater London (p. 131)
• Suicide and social milieu in France (p. 132)
• 8 The Twentieth Century: Greater Protection for the Ruling Classes (p. 141)
• Rich and detailed data from the USA (p. 143)
• First clue: many more social bonds (p. 148)
• Second clue: making the best of it (p. 151)
• Modern forms of poverty (p. 154)
• Towards a cultural and social minimum wage (p. 159)
• 9 And yet Women Survive ... (p. 161)
• The children come first ... (p. 163)
• The Chinese exception (p. 165)
• Asia and the Pacific: marital problems (p. 171)
• Revenge suicide in New Guinea (p. 173)
• Japan falls into line (p. 175)
• Why don't more Western women commit suicide? (p. 175)
• Conclusion: A Lesson in General Sociology (p. 179)
• Sociology doesn't explain everything (p. 181)
• Is there a sociology of exceptions? (p. 187)
• The economy, integration and self-esteem (p. 190)
• References (p. 197)
• Index (p. 205)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Roger Establet is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at l'Université de Provence.