Conversations with Zygmunt Bauman

by Zygmunt Bauman, Keith Tester

Zygmunt Bauman is one of the leading figures in contemporary social thought. His work ranges across issues of ethics, culture and politics. It never forgets that social thought ought to help men and women make sense of their lives and aspire towards something different. His books and essays always focus on the here and violence and moral indifference, globalization, consumerism, politics and individualization. They cast a sharp eye on the panaceas of ‘there is no alternative'; the embrace of community and the fads of the ‘counselling boom'; through which men and women are told that they can achieve biographical solutions to what are, in fact, systemic problems.
In this new book, Zygmunt Bauman and Keith Tester engage in five accessible conversations that uncover and explore the assumptions and commitments underpinning Bauman's ground-breaking social thought. The conversations show how those commitments have influenced Bauman's analyses of modernity, postmodernity and ‘liquid modernity'. The book ranges widely, from autobiographical reflection through to pointers for the understanding and future of Bauman's social thought. The conversations illustrate the moral substance of Bauman's refusal to accept that the world cannot be made different. They show why social thought is a human necessity.
Conversations with Zygmunt Bauman is a book which will offer fresh insight into Bauman's work for those who are familiar with it, and provide an engaging and helpful entry point for those who are new to it.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Zygmunt Bauman was a world-renowned Polish sociologist and philosopher, and Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Leeds. He was one of the world's most eminent social theorists, writing on issues as diverse as modernity and the Holocaust, postmodern consumerism and liquid modernity and one of the creators of the concept of “postmodernism”.

Reviews

[Hakkı Sayın · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitabın çoğunu tarama yöntemiyle geçtiğimi söylemeliyim. Düşündüğümden daha geveze, çok bildik fikir ihtiva eden ve beni tatmin etmeyen bir kitaptı. Ne kadar çok Levinas atfı var! Dönüp onu okumak daha iyi olacak.

《"Tanrı parçacığı" Zygmunt Bauman'ın Levinas okuyuşunda fark edilir biçimde eksik. Bauman dini ontolojik güvenlik arayışının bir parçası olarak görüyor.》

"Ahlak ontolojiden önce gelir." Levinas.

"Yoksullar zenginlerin zalimane standartlarının hakim olduğu bir dünyada yaşıyorlar ve bu sizin düşündüğünüzün aksine yoksulları gerçeği bütün açıklığıyla söylemekle sahip olabilecekleri küçücük bir şanstan mahrum bırakmakla kalmayıp incinmeye aşağılanmayı ekliyor. Burada Richard Sennett'in 'sınıfın gizli yaraları' ifadesini de unutmayalım."

[Mohamed · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب ممتع وخفيف يفتح نافذة على أفكار زيجمونت باومان حول الحداثة السائلة والعالم المعاصر. الحوارات فيه بسيطة لكنها عميقة، وتجعلك تفكر بطريقة مختلفة في قضايا مثل الحرية والعولمة والخوف. مناسب جداً كمدخل للتعرّف على باومان دون الدخول في التنظير الأكاديمي المعقد

[Elrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mi la verdad me decepciono. Es como un resumen de su obra muy malo. Una contradicción de los conceptos de Bauman llevados a un ejercicio ligth y superficial. Sumamente “líquido”

[c36c3c32 · Rating 4 out of 5]

包曼所展示的最引人入勝的質地，就是一種經典的社會學的質地——是一種細緻地檢視與考慮﹑關心一切事物和狀態的精神。

[Eyvind Olafsrud · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 stjerner

[Rosa Ramôa · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Vivemos tempos líquidos, nada é feito para durar"...
(Zygmunt Bauman)