Bauman for beginners http://cesau.au.

dk/en/news/newsletters/bauman-for-beginners/ On a Thursday afternoon, a group of students have settled into one of the conference rooms at Aarhus University. They have chosen to spend three hours of their precious spare time on getting slightly better acquainted with Zygmunt Bauman. CESAUs student group have organized a warm-up session about Bauman, occasioned by the influential sociologists visit to Aarhus University. By Nina Damsgaard It is three in the afternoon and there is a buzz of anticipation from the approximately 40 students prior to the Bauman warm-up. Well, I dont know a thing about Bauman, one explains, while another eagerly tells the person next to her that she has brought popcorn. Most of the participants study history of ideas or political science. Zygmunt Baumans authorship spans almost 60 books as well as a vast amount of articles. Two Baumanconnoisseurs are going to acquaint the eager students a bit more closely with the 86 years old, Polish-born sociologist. First up is Ole Morsing, associate professor of the history of ideas, who is to give an introduction to Baumans thought. Extensive authorship Bauman was born in Poland in 1925 and has studied both sociology and philosophy. Since 1971, he has lived in Leeds, England. Baumans authorship took its beginnings in 1960, and up untill around 1980, he wrote primarily about social stratification, conflict, and class, clearly inspired by Marx. From the mideighties, Bauman took an interest especially in modernity. From our seats in the room, we have a view of Baumans image, projected onto a screen. His eyes reveal their insight, and the deep creases on his face tell of years of thinking and reflection. 1989 saw the beginning of Baumans interest in the postmodern. However, the concept of the postmodern becomes so obscure and negatively charged that Bauman completely abandons it in 2000, using instead the concept liquid modernity to describe the time we live in. Liquid modernity Baumans intention in the works on liquid modernity, according to Ole Morsing, is to respond to, and criticise, with ever fewer stable points of reference. Baumans thought is not simple, and his having changed his course several times in his extensive authorship makes it no simpler. But the students seem able to follow, nonetheless. A couple are tapping away at their laptops, a few taking notes by hand, and by far the most just sitting, listening to Ole Morsing who has mounted the podium, raised just short of a meter over the floor in the rooms right corner. Morality as point of reference Morality is an important in Baumans sociology. Within the postmodern, it is random, unpredictable, and uncontrollable, and there are no ethical grounds for it. In liquid modernity, nothing is stable. Everything is subject to change. The human being is constantly changing and therefor, like society, characterised by

ambivalence. Bauman is not afraid of liquid modernity nor of the ambivalence. He believes that we must learn to live with contradictions. And this is precisely where his concept of morality becomes relevant. For in a world with no stable set of guidelines, we must find morality deep within ourselves. When face to face with another person, one must listen to the morality within. It must act as frame for our life in the liquidly modern. How was the Holocaust possible? After a break to stabilise the blood sugar level with chocolate biscuits, fruit, and coffee, Ph.D. and senior researcher at Political Science, Mads P. Srensen, is up. He has brought slides and chooses to remain on the floor. If you can wish for only one thing for your birthday, go for this one, says Mads, smiling. He is speaking of Baumans book Modernity and Holocaust, which is Baumans perhaps most famous work, and at the same time an important book in modern sociology. The book from 1989 also marks the end of Baumans interest in modernity and the beginning of his interest in the postmodern. Mads describes how Bauman had three motivations for writing the book, which seeks to explain how the holocaust was possible: firstly, his wife was in a concentration camp during the Second World War. Secondly, Bauman is of the opinion that the Holocaust phenomenon has been misunderstood and misinterpreted by sociology, and precisely because we have misunderstood it, thirdly, it may repeat itself. Civilisation and bureaucracy The Holocaust is a constant possibility, inherent to the process of civilisation. And so modernity is not merely a sufficient, but a necessary condition for its occurrence to be possible. Modern bureaucracy, increased specialisation, division of labour, and rationality are some of the factors which, in combination, may serve to explain the Holocaust. During the holocaust, some people had the task of pressing a button or check off names on a list. But if that was ones only orders, it never became visible that one was in the process of killing a lot of people. And so there was no clear connection between intention and action. Very few were directly involved in killing people. Everybody just minded their job and did their duty. Obedience and free will Mads shows a couple of short films about Stanley Milgrams famous experiment, Behavioral study of obedience, from 1962. In one of the films, we see the experiment attempted in Denmark. In the Milgram experiment, as it is also known, one test person is to administer an electric shock to a person in another room, should the latter person be unable to answer a number of questions correctly. The shocks increase in power and the screams on the other side of the wall grow louder. What the person administering the shocks does not know is that the person in the other room is an actor, not receiving any shock at all. An experiment leader in a white coat is present, encouraging the test person to carry on. A major part on the test persons ended up administering a shock at the maximum volume to the other person, despite their screams and begging for mercy. The goal of the experiments is to show how rules, a sense of duty, and obedience influence the free choice, independence, and conscience of the individual person.

Morality must guide us The experiment is an example of a part of what, according to Bauman, may help to explain the Holocaust. Namely the level of obedience of human beings to authorities and contexts of authority, even if what they do is perhaps at odds with their conscience and humanity. It is in this context we must turn to Baumans concept of morality. It is precisely in a system where rationality and rules point in a direction different to that of ethics that one must listen to and make use of inner morality. It is in the encounter between human beings that one must bring out good morality. When faced with another human being, inner morality must always weigh heavier than the rules and structures created and given by social systems. There are enough of students keen to discuss, but we quickly reach six oclock, which is the cue to round of the session. Even though it may be difficult to follow Baumans thought and reflections, it seems that the students feel slightly better equipped for experiencing Bauman live.

BAUMAN PASSES THE BATON TO THE YOUTH

The sociologist with the deeply creased forehead and well-managed white hair is not exactly young anymore. He has done his duty to modern sociological thought and he now passes the baton to the learned and engaged youth.
By Nina Damsgaard

A short, round-backed and white-haired man is the cause of a full auditorium on a Monday afternoon at Aarhus University. But this man is not just anybody. Zygmunt Bauman is one of the most important thinkers in sociology, and even though he seems tired, slumped to the point of collapsing on his chair as he waits for it all to start, his eagerness and involvement leave nothing to be asked as he eventually mounts the podium. In spite of his 86 years, Bauman is energetic, ironic, and sharp as he reflects on liquid modern society. But he has also reached a high age. And so at this point, he harbours a wish for the youth to take over for him.

Photo: Lars Kruse/AU Kommunikation

A popular and important thinker

Bauman has come all the way from Leeds to Aarhus University to give a lecture as part of the lecture series Aarhus Lectures in Sociology, arranged by CESAU. Bauman has a special connection with Aarhus, as one of his most important inspirations is Danish theologian and philosopher K. E. Lgstrup, who was based in Aarhus. The title of todays lecture is Liquid Modernity Revisited, with reference to Baumans book Liquid Modernity, published in 2000. Today, 12 years later, we pay the books sphere of reflections another visit together with Bauman himself. In one corner of the auditorium, the university bookstore have served up boxes stuffed with a mere selection of Baumans books. He has written more than 60 during his many active years, several of them of great importance for modern sociology and sociological thought. Lines soon form at the cardboard boxes.

The lecture is captured on film. Even though the Bartholin-auditorium holds an audience of 235, far from all those interested managed to get tickets for the event. Students, teachers, and researchers alike occupy the seats, together forming a confused mass of voices. Spirits are high, and the majority part of the audience are in their seats, water-bottles filled, fruit and snacks in place, half an hour ahead of time.

Liquid modernity
The noise subsides as Baumans voice is heard in the room. He starts by speaking about the liquid modernity in which we live. Nothing is settled, everything is subject to change. Social systems and institutions no longer function as frame of reference for peoples actions and lives, and so we are forced to find other ways of

organising ourselves independently of a priori structural frameworks. This requires for the human being to be highly flexible and ready to adapt, constantly capable of changing its direction and cancelling obligations, all of this with no regrets. An important point, according to Bauman, is that we should not be afraid of the liquid. The goal is not a return to the solid, but rather the acceptance of our inability to capture and fixate the future. Next, we must then figure out how to adapt and achieve a good society under these conditions.

Facebook and global politics

During his nearly two-hour talk, Bauman speaks several times of facebook, and one gets the impression that he has personally explored the website. But to be fair, this would make perfect sense; what could be more obvious than speaking of facebook and the social media in relation to liquid modernity? Facebook is an example of how we may constantly promote ourselves in new ways, thereby giving others the exact image of ourselves that we wish for them to have.

Bauman also passes by the theme of consumerism, criticising our society for being centred around consumption. This critique also has a central place in the book Liquid Modernity. He describes how this is significant for the balance between our professional and private lives, respectively.

Instead of spending more life with your child you can buy large presents. The market works as a mediator to fulfill needs.

Bauman also touches upon globalisation. He was earlier quite the sceptic on this subject, but he does not treat it too harshly in this lecture. He does, however, emphasize an important problem regarding globalisation, namely the rupture between politics and power. That is, a rupture between the capability of making and the capacity to see them through in action. Bauman explains:

In order to act effectively you need both. Today power is global but politics is local. So now we have power that is absolutely free to do what it wants and politics that is not able to act.

Following this statement, Bauman incites everybody in the auditorium:

Your life will be spent resolving this issue. We need to invent global politics.

The youth must take over

It is also at this point that Bauman indicates the approaching end to his time as a sociological thinker. It is up to the youth to find solutions as to how we may overcome the challenges of liquid modernity. His final words are addressed to the many people in the auditorium, and presumably to young people in general:

So its up to you to do something about it!

Afterwards, there is time, as well as enough energy, for questions. Bauman is sincerely interested in hearing the students contributions to the discussion, and he stands quite close to them in order to properly hear their questions. In spite of his advanced age, he seems to strike quite the sense of awe into some of them presumably due to the great academic respect he enjoys worldwide. For the same reason, one must be theoretially well versed before engaging the man in discussion. Bauman delivers long, deliberate responses to the questioners. After three questions, however, he starts to get tired. He sits down and slouches on his chair. This is Mads P. Srensens cue to round of the session. The cheers cascade down over Bauman, who writes a couple of autographs before putting on his six-pence to leave the auditorium and Denmark.

http://cesau.au.dk/en/news/newsletters/bauman-passes-the-baton-to-the-youth/

The lecture series "Aarhus Lectures in Sociology" kicked off with lecture by Bauman
On April 16, CESAU hosted a lecture by Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman. The lecture was the first in the lecture series "Aarhus Lectures in Sociology". Bauman held his lecture under the heading Liquid Modernity Revisited, rounding off with a call to the youth to find solutions to how we may overcome the challenges of liquid modernity.