The Quest for Individual Freedom
A Twentieth-Century European History

A cultural, social, and political history of the quest for individual freedom as a central factor in twentieth-century European life.

Moritz Föllmer (Author)

9781009482813, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 April 2025

264 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2.1 cm, 0.53 kg

'A tour de force on how ordinary Europeans negotiated the meanings of freedom amid adversity. Elegantly written, Föllmer weaves together the twentieth century's history and political currents in entirely new ways. The story of the gains and setbacks in the struggle to live freely are riveting. A must read for scholars and students.' Rosemary Wakeman, author of A Modern History of European Cities: 1815 to the Present

What does it mean to see oneself as free? And how can this freedom be attained in times of conflict and social upheaval? In this ambitious study, Moritz Föllmer explores what twentieth-century Europeans understood by individual freedom and how they endeavoured to achieve it. Combining cultural, social, and political history, this book highlights the tension between ordinary people's efforts to secure personal independence and the ambitious attempts of thinkers and activists to embed notions of freedom in political and cultural agendas. The quest to be a free individual was multi-faceted; no single concept predominated. Men and women articulated and pursued it against the backdrop of two world wars, the expanding power of the state, the constraints of working life, pre-established moral norms, the growing influence of America, and uncertain futures of colonial rule. But although claims to individual freedom could be steered and stymied, they could not, ultimately, be suppressed.

Acknowledgments
List of Figures
Introduction
1. In Time of War
2. The Power of the State
3. Varieties of Work
4. Moral Norms
5. Boundaries of Europeanness
Conclusion
Select Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: European history [HBJD]