Beyond Bauman: Critical Engagements and Creative Excursions

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Bringing together leading interpreters of Zygmunt Bauman’s sociology, this volume thinks with and beyond Bauman’s work in order to show its continued relevance as a theory in its own right, as an object of criticism and as a stepping stone towards a fuller understanding of contemporary society. The volume deals with some proposed omissions and absences in Bauman’s sociology, with chapters comparing Bauman’s ideas to those of other prominent social thinkers as well as chapters devoted to teasing out some problems and pitfalls in his work. Paying attention to central concepts and themes of Bauman’s thought, authors engage with various aspects of his work, considering potential deficiencies in his ethical perspective, his neglect of the religious dimensions of modernity, his lack of consideration for ethnicity and gender, his overlooking the importance of socialisation in liquid modernity and his problematic argument for individual choice and freedom in a world that is increasingly closed down by consumer capitalism. * Beyond Bauman aspires to show that despite Bauman's status as a key sociological thinker, there are also certain deficiencies in his work demand critical discussion. It will be of use to scholars of sociology, contemporary society, social theory and modernity. Review 'Bauman’s sociology questions a world taken too much for granted. Bauman is interested in questions not answers. The contributors to this book now ask questions about Bauman’s work. They show how the work opens analytical avenues, and demonstrate how attention to its foundations can explain its focus and blindspots.'- Keith Tester, Thesis Eleven Centre for Cultural Sociology, *LaTrobe University, Australia * 'Twenty years ago there was no Bauman industry. Now there are calls for deindustrialization. Why are we still talking about Bauman? His is an untidy prominence. This volume looks to sorting him out. As we move on, what do we carry with us? These are pressing questions for those who follow, Beyond Bauman.' - Professor Peter Beilharz, Curtin University, Australia and Visiting Professor, Bauman Institute, University of Leeds, U.K 'In choosing to engage so critically with Bauman’s vast output, this wonderful collection clearly takes his sociological imagination very seriously. Edited by one of the world’s finest commentators on his work, this volume provides a vital reference point for scholars and students seeking a more robust examination of Bauman’s ideas.' – Mark Davis, Founding Director of the Bauman Institute, University of Leeds, UK About the Author Michael Hviid Jacobsen is Professor of Sociology at Aalborg University, Denmark. He has published extensively on the sociology of Zygmunt Bauman. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of contributors Preface and acknowledgements Introduction: Critical engagements and creative excursions with a contemporary sociological icon(oclast) The difficult art of ‘killing one’s darlings’ Bauman’s sociology: critical and humanistic cornerstones Inroads for critique Structure and content References 1 Aesthetic and relational ethics: Beyond Bauman’s postmodern ethics Introduction From postmodern audacity to liquid scepticism Defence: moving beyond decline sociology Particularising Otherness The emotional and embodied Other Iconic consciousness The traumatising Other The precarious self Conclusion References 2 Voice and the generalised other in the ethical writings of Zygmunt Bauman Introduction Bauman, Buber and the Other Culture Bauman, ethics and the Other New public sphere: the way out of the contemporary interregnum Conclusion References 3 Race, imperialism and gender in Zygmunt Bauman’s sociology: Partial absences, serious consequences Introduction The Enlightenment, modernity and ambivalence Imperialism, racism, gender and the Holocaust Gender, imperialism and consumerism Conclusion References 4 The inevitable clerisy: A postsecular critique of Zygmunt Bauman Introduction: knowledge and justice Priests and counter-priests For or against the counter-priesthood? Liberalism is always already debased Culturalist delusions Platonic resolution and alternative modernity The indispensable priesthood The experimental capture of ritual From ritual to experiment Returning experiment to ritual Against the liberal grounds for inequality Conclusion: the ritual control of experiment Notes References 5 Critical theory old and new: Theodor W. Adorno meets Zygmunt Bauman in the shopping mall Introduction Enlightenment, modernity and the Holocaust The culture industry and liquid-modern consumerism The damaged life, postmodern moralities and a fragmented existence Negative dialectic and active utopia From classical to contemporary critical theory Conclusion Note References 6 Not yet: Probing the potentials and problems in the utopian understandings of Ernst Bloch and Zygmunt Bauman Introduction Anticipatory consciousness and hope Bauman and socialism Music as utopia Morality as utopia Utopia in liquid modernity Conclusion Notes References 7 Exploring modernity’s hidden agenda in Europe: The complementary contributions of Zygmunt Bauman and Ernest Gellner Introduction Two agendas of modernity Two Central European intellectuals Liquid crowds and solid selves Loss of a world Three Baumans Gellner and solid modernity Conclusion References 8 ‘Getting to Norway’: Do we need to go beyond Zygmunt Bauman and Pierre Bourdieu in order to understand contemporary Norwegian society? Introduction Zygmunt Bauman: from solid to liquid modernity Pierre Bourdieu: a solid modernity? Norwegian society: some basic facts Is Norway a consumer society? Bauman versus Bourdieu on the consumer society Consumption and identity: gender, class and age Functional differentiation: the architecture of a solid society Agency and power in Bourdieu Power, democracy and reflexive modernisation Conclusion Notes References 9 Overcritique and ambiguity in Zygmunt Bauman’s sociology: A long-term perspective Introduction Sociology’s two tracks and sociological psychology Marxism and partisanship From Marx to modernity Bauman and dialectics Conclusion: the quicksands of ambivalence Notes References 10 Keeping other options alive: Zygmunt Bauman, hermeneutics and sociological alternatives Introduction Sociological hermeneutics Sociological hermeneutics and the legislator/interpreter distinction Bauman’s sociological alternatives Bauman, Levitas and utopianism Sociological hermeneutics alternatives Conclusion: on H. G. Wells, Bauman and Levitas Notes References 11 Paradoxes and ambivalences of liquid modernity: Zygmunt Bauman and the peculiar solidity of liquidity Introduction Modernity: liquefied and diluted? Politics: powerless and privatised? The agora: abandoned and dilapidated? Individualisation: insidious and inhumane? Critique: consumerised and disarmed? Utopia: undermined and distorted? ‘There Is No Alternative’ – or is there? Conclusion: hoping against hope? Note References Index