Liquid Modernity, Freedom, and Security: an iPad Interview with Zygmunt Bauman (original) (raw)

Zygmunt Bauman. Individual and society in the liquid modernity

Starting from the postmodern, the philosophical and sociological speculation by Zygmunt Bauman, opens -through the analysis of the phenomenon of globalizationto the meta-level of life, and then circumscribes the most recent thinking on political life, until reaching the liquid modernity: overcoming postmodernity itself. As a result individual, society, ethics, power, religion become those words impregnated with a liquidity capable of condensing in itself the most significant aspects of the present reality: a dimension in which the lasting gives way to the transient, the need to the desire, and the necessity to the utility.

Interview with Zygmunt Bauman: From the Modern Project to the Liquid World

Theory, Culture & Society, 2017

In these conversations with Simon Tabet, Zygmunt Bauman narrates important parts of his biographical and intellectual itineraries, from his formative years at the University of Warsaw to his Polish exile and final settlement in England, and how this influenced his sociological vision, as an ‘outsider’. Bauman considers some central concepts of his thought, his main sources of critical inspiration, and his position on such contemporary phenomena as the rise of populism and terrorism in Europe and the consequent relationship between politics and insecurity.

Far away from solid modernity - interview with prof. Zygmunt Bauman

R/evolutions: Global Trends and Regional Issues http://r-evolutions.amu.edu.pl/index.php/trends/87-trends/trends-info/102-far-away-from-solid-modernity, 2013

"The discovery of the precarious position of the majority of middle classes (...) And indeed the increasing popularity of the notion of precariat were the consequences of sobering-up, dashing of hopes,” claims prof. Zygmunt Bauman. He explains and describes the process and the road we travelled from an industrial society to the point where we find ourselves now, in the state of “liquid modernity.” This conversation tries to answer the questions whether we have lost the sense of social security and why we have stopped caring about the well-being of the human community. And finally, are we – as a society – really “moving towards the apocalypse?” "

Rethinking Democracy, Rethinking State. A Conversation with Zygmunt Bauman

Recerca. Revista de Pensament i Anàlisi, 2013

Zygmunt Bauman, professor of Sociology at the University of Leeds and, since 1990, emeritus professor, has developed key concepts for the understanding of fundamental issues of today’s world, such as liquid modernity, time, space and disorder, individualism versus community, globalization and consumer’s culture, love and identity, etc. His analyses of the links between modernity, Holocaust, democracy and social politics were the principal subject of the following interview, which was conducted by Vicente Ordóñez and Vicent Sanz on the occasion of Zygmunt Bauman’s recent visit to Spain.

BAUMAN, LIQUID MODERNITY AND DILEMMAS OF DEVELOPMENT

The concept of liquid modernity proposed by Zygmunt Bauman suggests a rapidly changing order that undermines all notions of durability. It implies a sense of rootlessness to all forms of social construction. In the field of development, such a concept challenges the meaning of modernization as an effort to establish long lasting structures. By applying this concept to development, it is possible to address the nuances of social change in terms of the interplay between the solid and liquid aspects of modernization.

Fears in the Light of Zygmunt Bauman’s Liquid Post-Modernity

Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric

Main task of the paper is to recall sociologist and philosopher – Zygmunt Bauman’s observations and concepts on the fears, anxieties, and uncertainties that appear in the modern world. Main focus was directed to Europe as Bauman was particularly concerned about its future and its role in the global society. The paper is illustrated using current examples from political, social, and economic life to confirm and/or negate Bauman’s concepts. We ask: are fears stable or changeable? Are they stronger or weaker? Are they constant, coming to an end, or are they replaced by new ones? Additionally, we confront Bauman’s concepts with the ideas of other sociologists who applied the interpretative perspective. We define fear following Bauman’s various proposals, and we distinguish many kinds of fears, giving examples from Western societies and socio-economic realities during the time of globalization. We refer to a few relevant sociological concepts to understand Bauman’s view better, e.g. the ...

Zygmunt Bauman: an Adorno for ‘liquid modern’ times?

The Sociological Review, 2014

Is Bauman a sociologist? Many sociologists have been perplexed by just this question.'Bauman', Donskis says in the introduction to his epistolary exchange, Moral Blindness, 'is not a typical sociologist', although he groups him together with Giddens and Beck as one of the 'living greats' of sociology. What distinguishes Bauman from his contemporary sociologists, according to Donskis, is that his is 'a sociology of the imagination, of human relations-love, friendship, despair, indifference, insensitivity-and of intimate experience'. Donskis fails to mention that both Beck and Giddens have also written about love and intimacy, but he is no doubt right to point out that there is something different about Bauman. And the contrast between conventional academic sociology and Bauman is nowhere more clearly exemplified than in this e-mail epistolary dialogue, for it consists of a series of meditations about 'Evil', not a category much used by sociologists, although Michel Wieviorka (2012) has recently ventured into this territory. For Donskis, Bauman is also distinctive in that he writes for 'the little man or woman-the persons whom globalization and the second (liquid) modernity has displaced', and here he groups him with historians such as Greenblatt and Ginzburg, rejecting 'history as a grand narrative', writing, instead, meaningful narratives about 'actual people: une petite histoire'. There is enough to disagree with in this characterization of Bauman. As I argue in my forthcoming book on him, Bauman has certainly not abandoned grand narratives, and indeed his distinction between 'solid' and 'liquid' modernity, just as much as his earlier epochal division between 'modernity' and bs_bs_banner

Exploring Modernity’s Hidden Agenda- Comparing Zygmunt Bauman and Ernest Gellner copy.pdf

This late draft of a chapter now published discusses Bauman’s analysis of liquid modernity and Gellner’s approach to nation-formation processes and the dynamics of Islamic societies. Do they help us make sense of the uprisings and civil wars in the Middle East and North Africa since 2001 and the Eurozone crisis since 2007? These issues are contextualised through a brief discussion of the biographies of Bauman and Gellner, some of their key ideas, the challenge to those ideas posed by the new agenda of modernity, and the place on that agenda filled by recent transformations and crises in the Middle East, North Africa and the European Union. It is argued that Bauman’s contribution can best be adapted to a world ‘beyond Bauman’ by identifying three distinct versions of his approach to modernity. These three Baumans are mutually contradictory in some respects but each yields rich resources. They are the products of a particular biography that produced certain strengths as well as some inevitable gaps. Gellner’s different biographical path has produced work with some complementary strengths that help fill those gaps.

The End of Utopia as We Know It? Zygmunt Bauman's Take on Our Contemporary Times

The End of Utopia as We Know It? Zygmunt Bauman's Take on Our Contemporary Times (EuroMedia2018, Brighton 9-10 July, 2018)., 2018

According to Zygmunt Bauman, we live in a world of hunting and hunters, where instead of lingering in the present and appreciating it for what it holds, we push into the future at an ever-increasing speed, unable to seize the day and live the moment. When too concerned with maintaining a state of flux we lose sight of the utopia that we may partly be living in – at least in a western world generally spared from first-hand warfare, where citizens enjoy technological advancements and breakthroughs. To paraphrase Bauman's words written in 2005 but holding true to this day we harbour a continuous dream of a world void of accidents. Restlessly we live through the day while eagerly anticipating the next. In doing so, we not only disregard the importance of the present but also that of the past, seemingly forgetting about it altogether. On a national level, this is a hunter's " utopia " where citizens are engaged in an individual postmodern hunt into an uncertain future and belonging to a collective would rather hold you back than facilitate the process of moving forward. Bauman questions whether in the name of game-keeping globalisation and a utopia that is ultimately unachievable, we are witnessing an end to what may have been regarded as an ideal time and place. Fast-forward to 2017 and having now embarked on an equally shaky journey into 2018 we face a world in disarray and fragmentation. This paper applies Bauman's lucid thoughts to an analysis of our unpredictable present.