Thomas Etzemüller
"Heroic Modernism"
Ambivalence of an epoch

506 p., paperback, numerous illustrations, € 39.00 or open access here
ISBN: 978-3-8376-7765-2 (Bielefeld: transcript, 2025)

Was the history of "heroic modernity" in the 20th century merely one of the "fall from hell" and the "Bloodlands" or also one of successful democracies and welfare states? And who were the heroes of this modernity - the decisionists who wanted to disruptively force a new world, or the social engineers who built social communities from below? I describe attempts to create order in a confused, uncertain era and analyse constructive experts who diagnosed and adjusted instead of clearing away with grand gestures. It becomes clear that their work was deeply ambivalent, because community through inclusion also meant the exclusion of "unfit" people.