Discarded life

Author: (English) Zygmunt Bauman
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: The creation of "human waste" — or, more accurately, the creation of discarded lives, the creation of "surplus" populations such as immigrants, refugees, and other exiles — is an inevitable outcome of modernization. Economic progress and the pursuit of order are characteristics of modernity, while the creation of "human waste" is their inevitable byproduct. As long as most parts of the world remain completely or partially unaffected by modernization, these regions will inevitably be seen by modernized nations as places to absorb the "surplus population" of developed countries. People once sought global solutions to regional population problems and temporarily found them. However, modernization has now spread to the farthest corners of the planet, and everywhere on Earth is producing "excess population." All regions must now (it seems in vain) seek regional solutions to global problems. The global expansion of modernity has deprived an increasing number of people of the means to survive, while the places on Earth that can accommodate them are rapidly decreasing. As a result, new anxieties about "immigrants" and "asylum seekers" have emerged, and the spread of "security panic" has also become increasingly prominent on the agenda of contemporary politics. Zygmunt Bauman's new book reveals the profound impact of this change on our contemporary culture and politics through its brilliant arguments. The book also demonstrates that addressing the issue of "human waste" provides a key to understanding some social problems that seem perplexing from other perspectives, which are widespread in our lives, ranging from global dominance strategies to the most intimate details of interpersonal relationships.