Liquid times : living in an age of uncertainty / Zygmunt Bauman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bauman, Zygmunt, 1925-2017.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Postmodernism--Social aspects.

Postmodernism.

Social change.

Freedom of movement.

Individualism.

Uncertainty.

Lifestyles.

Physical Description:

115 pages ; 19 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Polity Press, 2007.

Summary:

The passage from 'solid' to 'liquid' modernity has created a new and unprecedented setting for individual life pursuits, confronting individuals with a series of challenges never before encountered. Social forms and institutions no longer have enough time to solidify and cannot serve as frames of reference for human actions and long-term life plans, so individuals have to find other ways to organize their lives. They have to splice together an unending series of short-term projects and episodes that don't add up to the kind of sequence to which concepts like 'career' and 'progress' could meaningfully be applied. Such fragmented lives require individuals to be flexible and adaptable - to be constantly ready and willing to change tactics at short notice, to abandon commitments and loyalties without regret and to pursue opportunities according to their current availability. In liquid times the individual must act, plan actions and calculate the likely gains and losses of acting (or failing to act) under conditions of endemic uncertainty.

Zygmunt Bauman's brilliant writings on liquid modernity have altered the way we think about the contemporary world. In this short book he explores the sources of the endemic uncertainty which shapes our lives today and, in so doing, he provides the reader with a brief and accessible introduction to his highly original account, developed at greater length in his previous books, of life in our liquid modern times.

Contents:

Introduction: bravely into the hotbed of uncertainties

Liquid modern life and its fears

Humanity on the move

State, democracy and the management of fears

Out of touch together

Utopia in the age of uncertainty.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0745639879

9780745639871

9780745639864

0745639860

OCLC:

85853074