Modernity and the Holocaust

by Zygmunt Bauman

Overview

Sociology is concerned with modern society, but has never come to terms with one of the most distinctive and horrific aspects of modernity - the Holocaust.

The book examines what sociology can teach us about the Holocaust, but more particularly concentrates upon the lessons which the Holocaust has for sociology. Bauman's work demonstrates that the Holocaust has to be understood as deeply involved with the nature of modernity. There is nothing comparable to this work available in the sociological literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745638096
Publisher:	Polity Press
Publication date:	05/28/2013
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	787,321
File size:	517 KB

About the Author

Zygmunt Bauman is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Leeds. He is the author of Modernity and Ambivalence, also from Cornell, and Legislators and Interpreters.

Table of Contents

Foreword.

1. Introduction: Sociology after the Holocaust.

2. Modernity, Racism, Extermination - I.

3. Modernity, Racism, Extermination - II.

4. On the Uniqueness and Normality of the Holocaust.

5. Soliciting Cooperation of the Victims.

6. The Ethics of Obedience (reading Milgram).

7. Towards a Sociological Theory of Morality Rationality and Shame.

Index.

What People are Saying About This

Summer 2001 Shofar

A new afterword to this edition tackles difficult issues of guilt and innocence on the individual and societal levels.

From the Publisher

A stunningly original set of reflections on racism, extermination, rationality, individual responsibility in criminal societies, and the sources of obedience and resistance.

Editorial Reviews

'Modernity and the Holocaust is a very fine book. Broad in scope and penetrating in analysis, it is disturbing as its subject matter demands, yet never fails to preserve the crucial element of reflective distance out of which new or more acute knowledge is able to emerge.' Times Higher Education Supplement

'Such is the concentrated brilliance of this study that it is sure to find an appreciative audience in every field of research which touches on the Holocaust.' Times Literary Supplement

'This is a profound book, brilliant in its insights ... It demands wide readership.' Political Studies

'The book should be widely read by students of the social sciences, since it is, apart from a provocative analysis of explanations of genocide, a critique of sociology, which Bauman claims has neglected the ethical dilemmas posed by the destruction of the Jews.' Sociology

From the Publisher