Does Ethics Have a Chance in a World of Consumers or The Storm Gourmet

Does Ethics Have a Chance in a World of Consumers?

Author: Zygmunt Bauman

Zygmunt Bauman is one of the most admired social thinkers of our time. Once a Marxist sociologist, he has surrendered the narrowness of both Marxism and sociology, and dares to write in language that ordinary people can understand—about problems they feel ill equipped to solve. This book is no dry treatise but is instead what Bauman calls “a report from a battlefield,” part of the struggle to find new and adequate ways of thinking about the world in which we live. Rather than searching for solutions to what are perhaps the insoluble problems of the modern world, Bauman proposes that we reframe the way we think about these problems. In an era of routine travel, where most people circulate widely, the inherited beliefs that aid our thinking about the world have become an obstacle.

Bauman seeks to liberate us from the thinking that renders us hopeless in the face of our own domineering governments and threats from unknown forces abroad. He shows us we can give up belief in a hierarchical arrangement of states and powers. He challenges members of the “knowledge class” to overcome their estrangement from the rest of society. Gracefully, provocatively, Bauman urges us to think in new ways about a newly flexible, newly challenging modern world. As Bauman notes, quoting Vaclav Havel, “hope is not a prognostication.” It is, rather, alongside courage and will, a mundane, common weapon that is too seldom used.

What People Are Saying

Paul Gilroy
This thoughtful and elegant little book by one of the world's most humble but distinguished intellectuals conveys a sense that the wisdom of a lifetime is being distilled here in a pithy but above all in a usable form. --(Paul Gilroy, London School of Economics)

Ron Eyerman
Zygmunt Bauman's voice is as exemplary as it is powerful. He writes not only in Max Weber's spirit, but also in that of Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, as well as Hannah Arendt and Norbert Elias. This is a very important collection by one of the leading thinkers of our time. --(Ron Eyerman, Yale University)

Table of Contents:

Introduction Threats or Chances? 1

1 What Chance of Ethics in the Globalized World of Consumers? 31

2 Categorial Murder, or the Legacy of the Twentieth Century and How to Remember It 78

3 Freedom in the Liquid-Modern Era 110

4 Hurried Life, or Liquid-Modern Challenges to Education 144

5 Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire, or the Arts between Administration and the Markets 194

6 Making the Planet Hospitable to Europe 225

Notes 259

Index 269

New interesting textbook: On the High Wire or Forestry Handbook

The Storm Gourmet: A Guide to Creating Extraordinary Meals Without Electricity

Author: Daphne Nikolopoulos

This book proves that, with a little planning and minimal effort, you can eat surprisingly well during power outages. In hurricane season, this book is a crucial resource. It can be used for any emergency or anytime you are without power. And you can use this book for quick, easy meals anytime, especially for camping or for quick summer meals. You will find shopping lists for creating the ultimate emergency pantry; more than 70 recipes using nonperishable and shelf-stable food items; suggested menus for quick, well-balanced meals; a practical guide to growing a storm-proof herb garden; advice, tips, and anecdotes about weathering the storm. The 12-page color insert displays the colorful and appetizing-yes, gourmet!-meals that can be prepared from canned goods with some fresh ingredients.

Library Journal

A survivor of Florida's recent hurricanes and the managing editor of Palm Beach Illustrated magazine, Nikolopoulos was struck by the lack of recipes for interesting meals that could be prepared without cooking appliances. Her attempt to fill that gap might be considered a niche cookbook whose usefulness extends beyond the disaster-stricken public that the author hopes to serve. Although Nikolopoulos claims that her recipes-more than 70 using nonperishable food items, e.g., Cranberry Orange Chicken and Rose Water-Scented Pistachio Pudding-can be prepared in blizzard conditions as well as in tropical climates, there are too many references to picking up tropical fruit from your neighbor's yard to make these dishes truly useful without some adaptation for those living in northern areas. Most of the ingredients are readily available, but some, often crucial items-like orange- and rose-blossom water, guava paste, instant pasta, and the ubiquitous "table cream"-are uncommon. With creativity, however, campers and those who don't have ready access to mangoes and avocados year-round could make use of this book. The recipes are easy to follow, and the variations in meals would certainly be welcomed during a crisis that resulted in power outages for more than a few days. For larger cookbook collections in public libraries, particularly where weather crises or campers create a demand.-Elizabeth Rogers, CEF Lib. Syst., Plattsburgh, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.