In this major new book, Dennis Smith provides a clear introduction to the work of Zygmunt Bauman and sets the agenda for future discussions of this controversial and challenging social thinker. Over the last decade, Bauman has developed a powerful and distinctive analysis of the human condition in the postmodern age. He has analysed the moral dilemmas, emotional torments, social pressures and political choices that are set to plague us in the future. But where does Bauman's vision come from? How convincing is it? And what is Bauman's distinctive contribution to our understanding of ourselves?…mehr
In this major new book, Dennis Smith provides a clear introduction to the work of Zygmunt Bauman and sets the agenda for future discussions of this controversial and challenging social thinker. Over the last decade, Bauman has developed a powerful and distinctive analysis of the human condition in the postmodern age. He has analysed the moral dilemmas, emotional torments, social pressures and political choices that are set to plague us in the future. But where does Bauman's vision come from? How convincing is it? And what is Bauman's distinctive contribution to our understanding of ourselves? This wide-ranging and accessible book provides the answers to these questions. Smith shows that the central themes in Bauman's recent analyses of modernity and postmodernity were already present in his early writings. He traces strong links between Bauman the Polish dissident intellectual under a communist regime in the 1960s and Bauman the prophet of postmodernity in the capitalist West during the 1980s and 1990s. The book offers more than just analysis and assessment, though, as Smith enters into a lively correspondence with Bauman, exchanging views on such topics as the nature of history, morality, postmodernity, risk and globalization. This valuable introduction will be of interest to second-year undergraduates and above in sociology, philosophy, politics and cultural studies.Hinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.
Dennis Smith is Professor of Sociology at Loughborough University, and the author of many books, including The Rise of Historical Sociology (Polity Press, 1991)
Inhaltsangabe
Preface x Part I Setting the Agenda 1 Living Without a Guidebook 3 Introduction 3 Critical perspectives 3 Sociology plus 5 What is modernity? 6 What is postmodernity? 9 Why Bauman is worth reading 14 The myth of the cage-dwellers 16 The rest of this book 18 2 No Easy Choices 20 Culture, choice and sociology 20 Bauman's vision 23 Bauman's career and intellectual influences: a brief overview 27 3 Who is Zygmunt Bauman? 33 Faith, hope and charity 33 The roots of wisdom 34 Bauman's agenda 35 A brief biography 38 Transitions 41 Puzzles 43 Anti-Semitism and Bauman 43 Neither insider nor outsider 44 Marx and the art of motorcycle maintenance 45 4 The Power of the Past 48 Discovering postmodernity 48 From priest to prophet 50 Out of Poland 52 A sociology for strangers 56 Part II The Road to Postmodernity 5 The Road to the West 61 Keeping on the road 61 An unexpected discovery 62 Intellectuals and innovation 64 Bauman, Galbraith and Mill 66 Modern times, modern Marxism 67 Between Class and Elite 69 Polish peasants and politics 71 Conclusion 75 6 The Road to Utopia 77 Mechanisms of social change 77 Culture as Praxis 77 Towards a Critical Sociology 80 Socialism: the active utopia 85 Hermeneutics and Social Science 89 Conclusion 94 7 The Road to the Berlin Wall 98 Switching routes 98 Solidarity 99 Memories of Class 101 Freedom 105 After communism 109 Conclusion 110 8 The Trilogy 113 Three narratives 113 Legislators and Interpreters 114 Cruelty, dehumanization and estrangement 120 Modernity and the Holocaust 122 Modernity and Ambivalence 130 Conclusion 134 9 Bauman's Vision of Modernity and Postmodernity 136 Elaborating the vision 136 Tending the garden 136 Discipline and sacrifice 138 The costs of modernity 142 Contradictions of modernity 143 The postmodern perspective 147 The postmodern habitat 150 The broader context 152 Three aspects of postmodernity 153 Postmodernization 155 Globalization 156 Seduction and repression 156 Cognitive, aesthetic and moral space 158 The stranger 161 I and the Other 163 The role of the sociologist 165 Part III Dialogue 10 Between Critical Theory and Poststructuralism 169 The ambivalence of criticism 169 The journey from modernity to postmodernity 170 Adorno and Habermas 171 Foucault and Lyotard 178 Enlightenment values 184 11 A Correspondence between Zygmunt Bauman and Dennis Smith 188 First letter 188 Second letter 191 Third letter 198 Fourth letter 203 Fifth letter 213 Notes 221 Bibliography 231 Index 239
Preface x Part I Setting the Agenda 1 Living Without a Guidebook 3 Introduction 3 Critical perspectives 3 Sociology plus 5 What is modernity? 6 What is postmodernity? 9 Why Bauman is worth reading 14 The myth of the cage-dwellers 16 The rest of this book 18 2 No Easy Choices 20 Culture, choice and sociology 20 Bauman's vision 23 Bauman's career and intellectual influences: a brief overview 27 3 Who is Zygmunt Bauman? 33 Faith, hope and charity 33 The roots of wisdom 34 Bauman's agenda 35 A brief biography 38 Transitions 41 Puzzles 43 Anti-Semitism and Bauman 43 Neither insider nor outsider 44 Marx and the art of motorcycle maintenance 45 4 The Power of the Past 48 Discovering postmodernity 48 From priest to prophet 50 Out of Poland 52 A sociology for strangers 56 Part II The Road to Postmodernity 5 The Road to the West 61 Keeping on the road 61 An unexpected discovery 62 Intellectuals and innovation 64 Bauman, Galbraith and Mill 66 Modern times, modern Marxism 67 Between Class and Elite 69 Polish peasants and politics 71 Conclusion 75 6 The Road to Utopia 77 Mechanisms of social change 77 Culture as Praxis 77 Towards a Critical Sociology 80 Socialism: the active utopia 85 Hermeneutics and Social Science 89 Conclusion 94 7 The Road to the Berlin Wall 98 Switching routes 98 Solidarity 99 Memories of Class 101 Freedom 105 After communism 109 Conclusion 110 8 The Trilogy 113 Three narratives 113 Legislators and Interpreters 114 Cruelty, dehumanization and estrangement 120 Modernity and the Holocaust 122 Modernity and Ambivalence 130 Conclusion 134 9 Bauman's Vision of Modernity and Postmodernity 136 Elaborating the vision 136 Tending the garden 136 Discipline and sacrifice 138 The costs of modernity 142 Contradictions of modernity 143 The postmodern perspective 147 The postmodern habitat 150 The broader context 152 Three aspects of postmodernity 153 Postmodernization 155 Globalization 156 Seduction and repression 156 Cognitive, aesthetic and moral space 158 The stranger 161 I and the Other 163 The role of the sociologist 165 Part III Dialogue 10 Between Critical Theory and Poststructuralism 169 The ambivalence of criticism 169 The journey from modernity to postmodernity 170 Adorno and Habermas 171 Foucault and Lyotard 178 Enlightenment values 184 11 A Correspondence between Zygmunt Bauman and Dennis Smith 188 First letter 188 Second letter 191 Third letter 198 Fourth letter 203 Fifth letter 213 Notes 221 Bibliography 231 Index 239
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