This volume examines the turn inwards, toward matters of the self, in an era characterized by suffering, destruction and death resulting from large-scale structural problems, including global pandemics, economic inequality and climate change. With a particular focus on "practices of style" that reflect both aesthetic and ethical qualities, the book considers practices stemming from sustainability, tidying up, minimalism, digital detoxing, self-care, and the growing digital communities of menswear, style and wellness.

Developing a theory of "tragic social science," applied to topics including global inequality, celebrity culture, pandemics, and climate change, this book aims to restore "tragedy" as a productive analytic in the social sciences—drawing on the ancient tragedians, Aristotle, Shakespeare, and modern dramatists.

Analyzes the nexus of death and digital culture in the contemporary moment — art, online suicide pacts, the mourning of celebrity deaths, terrorist beheadings, and selfies—arguing that death today is "interfaced," mediated and expressed across contemporary life rather than put to the side.