Modernity and rationality Zygmunt Bauman

in late 1980s , 1990s bauman published number of books dealt relationship between modernity, bureaucracy, rationality , social exclusion. bauman, following freud, came view european modernity trade off: european society, argued, had agreed forego level of freedom receive benefits of increased individual security. bauman argued modernity, in later came term solid form, involved removing unknowns , uncertainties. involved control on nature, hierarchical bureaucracy, rules , regulations, control , categorisation — of attempted remove gradually personal insecurities, making chaotic aspects of human life appear well-ordered , familiar.

bauman in 2011

later in number of books bauman began develop position such order-making never manages achieve desired results. when life becomes organised familiar , manageable categories, argued, there social groups cannot administered, cannot separated out , controlled. in book modernity , ambivalence bauman began theorise such indeterminate persons in terms of allegorical figure called, stranger. drawing upon georg simmel s sociology , philosophy of jacques derrida, bauman came write of stranger person present yet unfamiliar, society s undecidable. in modernity , ambivalence bauman attempted give account of different approaches modern society adopts toward stranger. argued that, on 1 hand, in consumer-oriented economy strange , unfamiliar enticing; in different styles of food, different fashions , in tourism possible experience allure of unfamiliar. yet strange-ness has more negative side. stranger, because cannot controlled or ordered, object of fear; potential mugger, person outside of society s borders constant threat.

bauman s famous book, modernity , holocaust, attempt give full account of dangers of kinds of fears. drawing upon hannah arendt , theodor adorno s books on totalitarianism , enlightenment, bauman developed argument holocaust should not considered event in jewish history, nor regression pre-modern barbarism. rather, argued, holocaust should seen connected modernity , order-making efforts. procedural rationality, division of labour smaller , smaller tasks, taxonomic categorisation of different species, , tendency view obedience rules morally good, played role in holocaust coming pass. argued reason modern societies have not grasped lessons of holocaust; tends viewed—to use bauman s metaphor—like picture hanging on wall, offering few lessons. in bauman s analysis jews became strangers par excellence in europe. final solution pictured him extreme example of attempt made society excise uncomfortable , indeterminate elements exist within it. bauman, philosopher giorgio agamben, contended same processes of exclusion @ work in holocaust could, , extent do, still come play today.