Bauman and Contemporary Sociology

The late Zygmunt Bauman is regarded by many as the greatest sociologist of the late twentieth century. This book is the first single-authored critical engagement with Bauman's most important work.

Previous books on Bauman have been exegetical, but Ali Rattansi shines an unwavering critical light on key themes in Bauman's writing. He provides a compelling critique of Bauman's interpretation of the Holocaust, contemporary Western modernity, consumerism and globalisation, calling into question the cogency of Bauman's critique of conventional academic sociology. Rattansi sees Bauman's enduring legacy in his repeated insistence on the need for sociologists to take a moral stance in favour of the world's poor and downtrodden.

Bauman and contemporary sociology offers an incisive and original perspective on the man and his legacy to fellow sociologists and a lucid and compelling introduction to his work for students, for academics beyond sociology and for general readers.