Das Vertraute unvertraut machen. Ein Gespräch mit Peter Haffner

by Zygmunt Bauman, Peter Haffner (Contributor)

Shortly before his death, Zygmunt Bauman spent several days in conversation with the Swiss journalist Peter Haffner. Out of these conversations emerged this book in which Bauman shows himself to be the pre-eminent social thinker for which he became world renowned, a thinker who never shied away from addressing the great issues of our time and always strove to interrogate received wisdom and common sense, to make the familiar unfamiliar.

As in Bauman's work more generally, the personal and the political are interwoven in this book. Bauman's life, which followed the same trajectory as the social and political upheavals of the 20th century, left its trace on his thought. Bauman describes his upbringing in Poland, military service in the Red Army, working for the Polish Secret Service after the war and expulsion from Poland in 1968, providing personal accounts of the historical events on which he brings his social and political insights to bear. His reflections on history, identity, Jewishness, morality, happiness and love are rooted in his own personal journey through the turbulent events of the 20th century to which he bore witness.

These last conversations shed new light on one of the greatest social thinkers of our time, offering a more personal perspective on a man who changed our way of thinking about the modern world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology

186 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Zygmunt Bauman was a world-renowned Polish sociologist and philosopher, and Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Leeds. He was one of the world's most eminent social theorists, writing on issues as diverse as modernity and the Holocaust, postmodern consumerism and liquid modernity and one of the creators of the concept of “postmodernism”.

Reviews

[Patrycja Nizio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nieskończoność/5

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ostatnio Bauman zaczął do mnie bardzo silnie trafiać, szczególnie po uświadomieniu sobie, że jego sarkastyczny ton i wydawałoby się, że całkowicie pesymistyczne przemyślenia, tak naprawdę są słowami wypowiedzianymi przez człowieka pełnego nadziei.

Dużo ważnych spraw się w tej książce porusza, trochę skacząc po ogólnikach, ale jednak, koniec końców, docierając do esencji.

„Na tym opiera się istnienie socjologii jako nauki. [...] Okoliczności zostały stworzone, ale ich nie wybraliśmy. Pytanie brzmi: Jak powstały i do czego nas zmuszają, jak obchodzimy się z nimi i jak możemy je zmienić. Jak tworzymy świadomie, ale pod presją aktualnie panujących warunków życia i wiedząc o nich, historię? To tajemnica naszego istnienia.”

[Zhen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the interview with Bauman during commute, thanks to this book, the 30-min on the London underground felt better as it gave me a moment to disconnet with my work routine and think about some broader questions. The book is small but covers a wide range of topics, including some most heated conflicts in the world, Bauman was pessmistic yet still passionately engaged in global affairs, very inspiring and enligtening.
When reading this book, I felt a sense of relief when someone tells me that feeling insecure and powerless is common as we're obliged to 'find individual solutions to global/systematic problems', and consequently I became more patient to find that 'solution'.
Added some Bauman's work to my reading list : )

[Shane W. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Za Zygmunta Baumana dałabym 5/5.
Nie wiem, czy to kwestia tlumaczenia, ale Peter Haffner i jego pytania to 1/5.

Były nieprofesjonalne, pozbawione kultury, a często po prostu głupie. Brzmiało trochę jakby na siłę próbował udowodnić Baumanowi swoja inteligencję popisujac sie, że przeczytał wszystko o czym legendarny socjolog wspomniał. Po czym rzucał ostrymi pytaniami bez żadnego szacunku do Baumana jakby chciał wymusić odpowiedzi, żeby ludzie się zachwycali ksiażka.

Polecam teksty Baumana, z którym można dowiedzieć się na temat jego analizy współczesności bez denerwujacych pseudomyślicieli starajacych się zabłysnac czyimś kosztem.
Tej ksiażki nie polecam.

[Zenoliu · Rating 4 out of 5]

What familiar problem has become unfamiliar in Bowman's speech?
1. Do not evaluate preceding choices with subsequent information. This will turn the fluid into the rigid, the accidental into the inevitable. Under this erroneous attribution, we will pay the price.
2. In the advanced stage of creation, the most important thing is not shaping, but cutting. It's like the advice Michelangelo gave to his apprentices, you just need to chisel away the excess marble.
3. Although consumerist society claims that satisfying consumers is its goal, in fact, satisfied consumers are its biggest threat, because it will only continue to thrive if its members are not satisfied.

[Millena Luz · Rating 5 out of 5]

interessantes levantamentos.

[Von_feng · Rating 4 out of 5]

It provides many insights and cleared some thoughts that haunted me for long.

[Renato Renato · Rating 3 out of 5]

O livro é ótimo. A conversa e ideias interessantes e instigantes. Não dou mais estrelas pois é uma conversa e não uma peça de literatura.

[HuSharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

尝试不可能的事，把自己理解为自己行动和创造的产物。不确定性是我们的自然栖息地，哪怕背后动机是渴望将不确定化为确定性。