Conversations with Zygmunt Bauman

Zygmunt Bauman is one of the leading figures in contemporary socialthought. His work ranges across issues of ethics, culture andpolitics. It never forgets that social thought ought to help menand women make sense of their lives and aspire towards somethingdifferent. His books and essays always focus on the here and now: violence and moral indifference, globalization, consumerism, politics and individualization. They cast a sharp eye on thepanaceas of 'there is no alternative'
the embrace of community andthe fads of the 'counselling boom'
through which men and women aretold that they can achieve biographical solutions to what are, infact, systemic problems.


In this new book, Zygmunt Bauman and Keith Tester engage in fiveaccessible conversations that uncover and explore the assumptionsand commitments underpinning Bauman's ground-breaking socialthought. The conversations show how those commitments haveinfluenced Bauman's analyses of modernity, postmodernity and'liquid modernity'. The book ranges widely, from autobiographicalreflection through to pointers for the understanding and future ofBauman's social thought. The conversations illustrate the moralsubstance of Bauman's refusal to accept that the world cannot bemade different. They show why social thought is a human necessity.


Conversations with Zygmunt Bauman is a book which will offer freshinsight into Bauman's work for those who are familiar with it, andprovide an engaging and helpful entry point for those who are newto it.