Postmodernity and its Discontents (PDF)

When Freud wrote his classic Civilization and its
Discontents, he was concerned with repression. Modern
civilization depends upon the constraint of impulse, the limiting
of self expression.

Today, in the time of modernity, Bauman argues, Freud's analysis no
longer holds good, if it ever did. The regulation of desire turns
from an irritating necessity into an assault against individual
freedom. In the postmodern era, the liberty of the individual is
the overriding value, the criterion in terms of which all social
rules and regulations are assessed. Postmodernity is governed by
the 'will to happiness': the result, however, is a sacrificing of
security.

The most prominent anxieties in our society today, Bauman shows,
derive from the removal of security. The world is experienced as
overwhelmingly uncertain, uncontrollable and frightening.
Totalitarian politics frightened by its awesome power; the new
social disorder frightens by its lack of consistency and direction.
The very pursuit of individual happiness corrupts and undermines
those systems of authority needed for a stable life.

This book builds imaginatively upon Bauman's earlier contributions
to social theory. It consolidates his reputation as the
interpreter of postmodernity. The book will appeal to second-year
undergraduates and above in sociology, cultural studies, philosophy
and anthropology.