{"product_id":"the-salaried-masses-duty-and-distraction-in-weimar-germany-9781859841877","title":"The Salaried Masses: Duty and Distraction in Weimar Germany","description":"First published in 1930, Siegfried Kracauer's work was greeted with great acclaim and soon attained the status of a classic. The object of his inquiry was the new class of salaried employees who populated the cities of Weimar Germany. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSpiritually homeless, divorced from all custom and tradition, these white-collar workers sought refuge in entertainment--or the \"distraction industries,\" as Kracauer put it--but, only three years later, were to flee into the arms of Adolf Hitler. Eschewing the instruments of traditional sociological scholarship, but without collapsing into mere journalistic reportage, Kracauer explores the contradictions of this caste. Drawing on conversations, newspapers, adverts and personal correspondence, he charts the bland horror of the everyday. In the process he succeeds in writing not just a prescient account of the declining days of the Weimar Republic, but also a path-breaking exercise in the sociology of culture which has sharp relevance for today.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSiegfried Kracauer\u003c\/b\u003e (1889-1966) was one of Germany's leading cultural commentators and essayists. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eQuintin Hoare\u003c\/b\u003e is the director of the Bosnian Institute and has translated numerous works by Sartre, Antonio Gramsci, and other French authors. He lives in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Verso","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50874000376082,"sku":"9781859841877","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_458fb0ca-b01d-47b3-adc5-70bea2769b73.jpg?v=1737979271","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-salaried-masses-duty-and-distraction-in-weimar-germany-9781859841877","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}