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One of the most influential intellectuals of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, sociologist and philosopher Zygmunt Bauman (1925–2017) made reflection on culture a fundamental part of his academic work. He published a substantial number of papers on the topic, and many of his concepts would go on to significantly influence the social sciences and humanities.
Bauman began his theoretical studies on culture when working at the University of Warsaw and continued them all his life. Inspired by the many intellectual currents he encountered over his more than six decades of work, Bauman wrote on culture in the contexts of such issues as Marxism and socialism, modernity and the Holocaust, postmodernity and liquid modernity, and contemporary nostalgia. In Zygmunt Bauman and the Theory of Culture Dariusz Brzeziński uses the evolution of Bauman’s theory of culture as a prism through which to offer a comparative analysis, putting Bauman’s work in conversation with the writings of other contemporary intellectuals.
In this first comprehensive and critical assessment of Bauman’s lifelong work on culture, Brzeziński includes Bauman’s Polish-language papers and books, as well as his works discovered only posthumously, presenting them to an international audience.
"In this first comprehensive and critical assessment of Bauman’s lifelong work on culture, Brzeziński includes Bauman’s Polish-language papers and books, as well as his works discovered only posthumously, presenting them to an international audience." Polish Sociological Review
“Brzeziński skilfully guides the reader through much material not published in English, together with some unpublished and difficult-to-obtain material.” European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology
“[Brzezinski's] utmost care and seriousness in examining Bauman’s work conveys his deep appreciation of what Bauman did for the discipline of sociology and wider society. This is a wonderfully intimate biography, and I thank Brzezinski for helping me better understand Bauman’s work and life.” Contemporary Sociology
“In [Dariusz] Brzezinski's work, the desire to look at the work of … Bauman as a whole, running from his earliest to his latest texts reaches its apotheosis…. As a Polish speaker, Brzezinski can draw upon a selection of texts hitherto unpublished in English … [shining] a light on how little of the Polish work has been translated, with [his] collection of essays beginning to make a dent in this.” Thesis 11
Dariusz Brzeziński is assistant professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Polish Academy of Sciences and a visiting research fellow at the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds.
Katarzyna Bartoszyńska is assistant professor of English and women's and gender studies at Ithaca College.