Portrait of Bowman's Thought: What does Bowman remind us of in a modern society that has lost its roots?

Who is Sigismund Bowman?

Sigismund Baumann Infographic

He went from citizens to soldiers, from inside and outside the system, from practitioners to masters of thought, from ideological theorists to outright skeptics. He had received a Marxist education, had a firm belief in communism, was a Communist Party member with more than 20 years of party experience, but finally had to quit the party and leave the motherland; he had to go to school for ten years in the military, but he suddenly turned into a university lecturer because of the anti-Semitic movement; he was in a socialist country, but he continued to advocate humanitarian Marxism and aspired to a better utopia; he suffered persecution from both systems because of his Jewish identity, but never complained about the Jews; he seemed to have anti-bones and never was satisfied with the status quo. Dissecting Anglo-American capitalism in Poland, and ruthlessly criticizing the socialist system in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, he once again criticized the capitalist system and modern civilization in Britain (it is said that only Arendt could do it before); he was an outsider in the camp of modernity and postmodernity debate, always coldly watching the great changes in the turbulent world, but always helping helpless people understand this world where everything was flowing. He seems to be a less popular cold-faced killer, who doesn't look good or likable, but always puts the individual's survival situation at the core. This is destined to be my own loner, to fight for the general public, to wander on the fringes of academia, but no one can avoid the problems he explores, like the reef in the middle of the riverbed that is hidden or present, and like a tall, unnamed, but very strange tree in the forest, difficult to classify as a left and right faction, difficult to classify disciplines; he has written as many as 77 books, regardless of the self-plagiarism accused by others, and does not care to talk and quarrel with anyone, and casually buckles any hat by others; he does not want to wear the laurel of "theorist". His ideas are only wandering the world, belonging only to this world, rather than entering the cage of his own woven system or the academic historical tradition woven by others.

Bowman's research career spans too large, a full sixty years (1957-2017), covering too many areas, politics, society, history, culture, philosophy, morality, ethics, life, love and other fields, and has written as many as 77 books, and has translated as many as 25 books in Chinese. He is one of the few social thinkers in the world today. The most rare thing is the speed at which he publishes his work, and the upward momentum is spiraling. Before the 1980s it was an average of one book per year, in the 1990s it was an average of one book per year, and after the new millennium it was an average of two or three books per year. This is obviously not in line with the usual reasons of our Chinese scholars. Chinese scholars retire at the age of sixty, and many stop writing and researching on the pretext of being old and not having enough energy. Bowman did not stop thinking until the last moment of his life, which made us ashamed of ourselves. Although some say his writings are suspected of self-plagiarism, this does not deprive him of his status as a great thinker. Although after the new millennium he is no longer just a tome for academic research, but a popular pamphlet with little annotation, this is precisely what he wants to go out of the ivory tower, speak the truth to ordinary people, and let the public understand and face the current fluid and uncertain world. In fact, only today, when Baumann went to heaven and his thoughts ceased, can we truly look back at his overall ideas and their academic value and practical significance. If we want to clearly grasp the trend of today's world and rationally deal with all unpredictable futures, Bauman Thought is a very realistic and forward-looking treasure trove, which is worthy of systematic study by future generations.

Bauman's academic career was roughly divided into five stages. First, in the 1950s and 1960s, in Poland, sociological interpretations of the political and social problems of socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and Anglo-American capitalism were carried out, and "humanistic Marxism" was developed from Gramsci's thought; second, in the early 1970s and 1980s, it focused on the main force that caused social change, put the intellectuals in a decisive role, and tried to rebuild Eastern European society. Third, in the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, in the face of the European crisis, there was a turn toward a thorough critique of modernity; fourth, from the early 1990s to the mid-to-late 1990s, an attempt was made to save modern society from postmodern morality and politics; and fifth, from the late 1990s to the present, there was a comprehensive shift to fluid modernity, exploring the fluid situation of individual survival.

Sigismund Baumann's ability to gain great attention and recognition from the academic community began with Modernity and the Holocaust, although he had previously published more than two dozen books and numerous papers. It is true that this book is not too easy to understand, and I initially read it through N times before I gradually understood his intentions. This classic is meant to tell us a few counterintuitive truths. 1. Compared with the Nanjing Massacre, which was an anti-modern atrocity, the German Nazi Massacre was precisely the result of modernity, and only by using the rational and immoral cooperation of modern bureaucracy and modern technology could the Holocaust be so large-scale and efficient, and could it be completely lost in moral sympathy. 2, the massacre is not only to condemn the cruelty of the perpetrator, the victim also has to bear the responsibility of "banal evil", if the victim does not cooperate, but fights to resist, the harm will be more costly, or even impossible. 3. The reason why victims cooperate is to make full use of the rational choice thinking of self-preservation and actively cooperate with the perpetrator's organization. 4. Because of this, as long as morality is manipulated by society and politics, the modern individual remains rationalist and suppresses other good qualities of the human spirit, and it is still possible to repeat the tragedy of the Holocaust. When I first read these four propositions, I found that Bowman seemed to be running forward with the baton handed by Arendt. Not only that, but he also tried to find a prescription for the pretentious individuals of modern society from the moral philosopher Levinas's "ethics of the other as the first philosophy" with the help of Jewish resources, arguing that each person put "be responsible to the other" at the top of moral judgment, especially to replace the "be responsible for sth" emphasized by modern bureaucracy. Although the former does not lose subjectivity, it is no longer the kind of intersubjectivity that emphasizes reciprocity in the Habermas sense, but places the position of the subject under those who face the weaker and smaller others, and the other takes precedence; the responsibility of the latter is for the purpose of the external subject itself, and the weaker and more painful situation of the other is intentionally or unintentionally shielded and isolated, and accordingly the subject's own rationality and interests are considered in the first place, and direct moral sympathy and moral judgment are lost. This is the rational selection mechanism and the source of moral indifference that caused the Holocaust in Germany.

However, Instead of merely reflecting on the Holocaust itself, Baumann presents the Holocaust as a case of critique of the consequences of modernity. He wanted to reflect more deeply on Durkheim's emphasis on modern morality, and replaced it with what he called Postmodern Ethics (1993) and Postmodern Ethics (1995). Not only that, but he does play the role of a sociologist, calling on readers to think about these moral issues in the context of real social daily life. In other words, he applied Levinas's philosophy of the other to the sociological narrative. Not only that, but Bowman also reveals that modernity and contradiction (1992) is an irresolvable conflict. The construction of the modern order is too standardized, symmetrical and absolutized, and gives aesthetic significance, just like the gardener, who likes the trees and flowers that are artificially trimmed and planted in the garden, does not allow weeds and wildflowers the opportunity to grow freely, sweeps away all dark, damp, dirty, filthy, chaotic things, makes everything orderly, and makes everything arranged according to the will of the master. However, Baumann very wisely pointed out that all these efforts are ultimately failures, because ambiguity, contradiction, and asymmetry are natural and eternal, while clarity, harmony, and symmetry are temporary and artificial, and the artificial will that does not conform to nature or tries to oppose nature is a high price to pay. In this way, Bowman not only criticizes modernity, but also reconstructs academic ambitions, trying to rise from ethics to politics, and finds a new way out for human society through "In Search of Politics" (1996), arguing that only the political institutional space of pluralistic democracy can allow postmodern morality to grow.

However, Baumann differs greatly from contemporary so-called postmodern thinkers not only in borrowing positive reconstructions, but especially after he found Fluid Modernity (2000). Since then, there has been a great shift in the focus of Bauman's thought or research (there is a controversy in the academic community here, and some people think that Bauman's thought is coherent), and there is no longer much discussion of moral issues, and there is no longer optimistic expectation of the implementation of postmodern morality by political systems and behaviors. After the new millennium, Bauman seems to be more concerned about the social problems faced by the masses, making full use of the concept of "fluid modernity" to rewrite the human condition from different aspects. Obviously, is Baumann a transition from ideal to reality, or a reversal from positive to pessimistic? At the very least, his readers must have found that the camp or label of "postmodernism" was no longer appropriate. At the very least, we have to re-examine his ideas and their relevance to the human condition in the world today, although it is difficult to pinpoint them for the time being, and it seems inappropriate to put any hat on him, as Simmel did in Germany. Bowman clarified the connotation of the analytical concept of "fluid modernity", like finding a key to open Pandora's box, in order to analyze the real situation in the world today. Standing in the 19th-century Western world, Marx had a profound insight into the power of capitalism: "All fixed rigid relations and the respected ideas and opinions corresponding to them have been eliminated, and all newly formed relations will become obsolete before they are fixed." All the hierarchical and fixed things are gone, and all the sacred things are desecrated." While Bauman argues that the world is not yet enough to "let everything solid go away," any attempt to tie everything firmly to a particular physical space is nearly impossible, or the cost is far greater than ever. Everything is liquefied, it is flowing, just like a flood coming, everywhere it goes, it is invincible to destroy the trend of gula decay, and everything is involved in the gushing water, and no one is spared.

The Globalization of Capital: A Society Without Roots and "Mobile Modernity"

In fact, all this is due to the scourge of capitalist globalization. The biggest difference between capital and money is liquidity, which produces profits, and profits lead to greater capital. Any capitalist (businessman) is mercenary, calculating, unwilling to be constrained in any way for the sake of profit. If capitalism developed rapidly before the 19th century, it was that the state system and social order were designed and implemented in accordance with the requirements of the operation of capital, dividing the earth into several large commercial empires, and the result was that the commercial competition between capitalists rose to a geopolitical conflict between nation-states, and finally had to resort to a terrible world-scale war, and divided the earth shared by mankind into two camps of capitalism and socialism. However, the information revolution arose in the West in the 1970s, and the neoliberal reforms of Thatcherism and Reaganism in the 1980s promoted the globalization of the market economy. Since then, the operation of capital has been like a snowball rolling down the hillside, running faster and faster, and the inertia has been unstoppable. The socialist camp could not stand the political world without the flow of capital, constantly clashing with the resistance of the system, Gorbachev carried out self-revolution, turned into the orbit of the market economy, and led to the collapse of the socialist system in the Soviet Union. The two work together to finally break through the opposition between the two camps. However, the world seems to be moving towards integration, history seems to be coming to an end, but capital is like a temporary interception that has broken through a dammed lake, and after decades of accumulation, it has spread to the free and free in the original non-capitalist world.

Of course, there are at least two things that the capitalist group did not expect in the wave of globalization. On the one hand, the wave of migration has become a huge global force, although migration, like capital, flows to stable, safe and affluent low-lying areas, not just "reservoirs" (which will eventually fill up and spill out). But migration and capital are moving in the opposite direction, like a tidal wave of beasts, directly to the rich countries in the West where labor is scarce and the welfare system is sound, but it brings a huge impact on the heterogeneity of the established social order and values in the West. That is to say, the capitalist group is charging at the forefront of the market economy, while the society and culture of their own country have been impacted, resulting in a fire in the backyard. On the other hand, capitalists do not expect that the influx of anti-globalization groups can be said to be both religious disputes, ethnic conflicts, and cultural conflicts in the form of non-interests, and also manifested in the plundering of resources by large transnational interest groups in the world, with the support of their own systems, on the interests of small groups in underdeveloped places, resulting in the damage to the interests of poor and weak countries or religious groups. In any case, the result was ultimately led to an extreme terrorist movement, and the 911 incident in the United States in 2001 and the 77 incident in the United Kingdom in 2005 are the most typical examples of these forces actively counterattacking. The wars in Iraq, Libya and other national conflicts have led to a global wave of refugees, which has fueled these three waves, thus involving the vast majority of the world's population. In addition, the operation of capital itself is not entirely logical, for example, the financial crisis of 2008 brought about a global economic recession, but instead made the problem of migration more prominent.

In short, in the new millennium, these three great waves have come together to form a huge global tsunami, with structural effects that have involved almost all social groups and individuals in the world. The effects are still fermenting so much that no one knows where to go. The value of Baumann's late ideas captures the fluid consequences of these structural problems. Of course, Bowman, as a sociologist who pays less attention to the institutional and macro levels, does not discuss these structural issues in thematic discussion, but we can use this as a preparation for knowledge and reality, and we can better understand the far-reaching significance of Bowman's later thought. He himself has simply published a large number of insightful pamphlets to tell the average reader that the overall flow of this macroscopic world is having an unprecedented impact on all aspects of our micro lives. Moreover, this shock continues, and the time and unintended consequences that will continue are unimaginable, and we, the toiling masses, should first understand the changes that have taken place in this real world and how they reflect them. As Schopenhauer said, when you have a clear understanding of the whole process of suffering, you can alleviate it. In this sense, Bauman comprehensively portrays the impact of the fluid characteristics of the world today on society and individual life, such as "The Besieged Society", "Individualized Society", "Community", "Consumer Life", "Mobile Culture", "Flowing Monitoring", "Flowing Fear", "Mobile Life", "Flowing Age", "Abandoned Life", "Flowing Love", and so on. From these titles we can get a sense of what Bowman has brought to the reader. First, the large-scale free movement of migrants around the world, whether tourists or vagrants, has led to the loss of a real, solid form of community at the local level. However, for the sake of psychological safety, people have to find or take the initiative to build various illusory, or instantaneous, or temporary agreed communities, such as the real chamber of commerce, alumni associations, alumni associations, hometown associations, ancestral halls, genealogies, ancestral graves and other forms and various forms of community, people are trying to find temporary comfort and emotional belonging, alleviate but can not fundamentally cure the loneliness, sadness and anxiety in free flow, let alone more similar groups in cyberspace. Of course, in any case, the traditional, authentic feeling of "community" in the sense of Tennis will never be extinguished. Second, what really suffers is the society that people construct and interact with on their own, which is not only pulled and squeezed by globalization and individualization, but also has made it difficult for heterogeneous social groups to maintain public characteristics. Of course, in contrast, the Highly Individualized Societies of the West, already in the process of modernization, will be far more affected by the new wave than non-Western countries, which are protected by various social organizations and political systems. This can be explained in Ulrich Baker's Individualized Society in a longer historical context and a deeper welfare system. Finally, Bowman's greatest concern is, of course, the consequences of this fluid world at the individual level, including psychological and emotional problems such as love and fear, as well as life, social relations, and social interactions. Baumann sensitively captures the fluid nature of the social individual's living conditions. It is precisely because no one can escape this fluid, uncertain world that his thoughts can get the attention of many readers.

Through the concept of "flowing modernity," Bauman tells us a truth that is both tragic and joyful. The good news is that all people enjoy unfettered freedom equally; sadly, there is no place in a world of security and uncertainty. This fluid world makes everything flow, all of us are not controlled by a single thought, do not treat others with a single eye and expression, in this world where the real and the virtual are constructed by each other, you enjoy full freedom, thinking, will, body, aesthetics do not have to follow a single standard. However, in this fluid world, what used to seem solid is being eroded, and there are clear standards between the good and the bad, but now they are all mixed together. In other words, what is artificially clear and certain becomes chaotic and uncertain. This is the real world. Not only that, but this reality is just beginning, or in the initial stages of flow. After all, our world is still a nation-state structure fixed in the 19th century and a world order laid down after the war, and it still clearly retains a large number of modern characteristics, because the solid national macro-system and world order that was constructed and completed are still functioning today. This is why Baumann's ideas have not yet been recognized by mainstream sociologists, as Giddens argues, the world has not changed radically, and modern order and ethical norms are still valid. However, the work Bowman has done is more forward-looking, and he wants to tell us about a trend that is happening and will be more obvious. These macro-systems, while effective, are slowly or rapidly eroding, and today they are like an old house that leaks rain and seeps water everywhere, although there are different degrees of damage in different places. Before the old house has completely collapsed, or the owner has not torn down and rebuilt or moved to a new house, there is always patience to strengthen the wall from time to time, cover the roof, and block the air outlet in various ways to meet the minimum needs of the owner. But while the owner is renovating or reinforcing, he must have begun to calculate in his heart that he should buy a house or rebuild it to replace it, and throw the old house into the historical garbage heap. The rich (the economic elite) approach the poor (the general public) differently, with the former abandoning them more quickly and relentlessly and spending money on a more sophisticated, aesthetically pleasing, convenient and multifunctional home in a luxurious location. For the super rich like a tourist, he does not need to belong to his own residence at all, and can do whatever he wants, in hotel chains or resorts around the world to meet his own personalized desires and pleasures. The poor are more dependent on and affectionate about the old house, telling all kinds of historical stories of living with the old house day and night, finding their own reasons and ways to preserve, repair and care for it, because this is the only place where his body and spirit belong. But for the poor who cannot repair it, when the old house that drifts with the wind collapses one day, he is actually liberated, and he can have no worries, use the sky as an account and the ground as a bed, and wander the end of the world. This is what Baumann tells us, a world of flow, and no one is immune to flow. Be free, but pay the price of not having a sense of belonging.

Of course, from the perspective of the way out, Bowman has not yet had time to find a remedy, which can subdue the monster of capital flowing around the world, or the current historical transition period is just beginning, and it will not "disappear". The so-called "solid things" that modern times are maintained by reinforced concrete, strong soldiers, and iron walls of copper and iron can survive for hundreds of years, after all, this tragic epic has only just begun to play out. But I prefer to believe that Bauman, as a sociologist, has no need to give the public a way out like God, and the most important thing is to know the real world. Any prescription may be just a pack of rat poison that makes a patient commit chronic suicide, or just heroin that temporarily produces good hallucinations, or a sleeping pill that makes people sleepy or even sleepless forever. As the German sociologist Ulrich Öhrig said. Baker (who baumann admires) said that the consequences of global disasters are borne by individuals, and global and systemic problems have individual solutions. Any individual is creative and dynamic, and has the ability to avoid, resolve, and adapt to structural problems. After all, mankind has experienced so many great disasters in history, and there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome. I also appreciate this pessimistic optimism. An inferior nature of intellectuals is often to play the role of God, or to sell so-called panacea in order to beg for mercy on a few pieces of cake and bread, in an attempt to save the lives of the world with a package. The real responsibility of this group is not to make rat poison, heroin, and sleeping pills, but to tell the crowd the facts and truths that have happened, are happening, or are about to happen, and encourage them to use their own active wisdom to freely discover and create survival skills. After all, "the master is in the folk".