Bringing together leading interpreters of Zygmunt Bauman’s sociology, this volume thinks with, against or beyond Bauman’s work in order to show its continued relevance as a theory in its own right, as an object of criticism and as a stepping stone towards a fuller understanding of contemporary society.

Preface and AcknowledgementsList of ContributorsIntroduction Beyond Bauman- Critical Engagements and Creative Excursions with a Contemporary Sociological Icon(oclast)Michael Hviid JacobsenChapter 1 Aesthetic and Relational Ethics- Beyond Bauman’s Postmodern EthicsNicholas Hookway and Douglas EzzyChapter 2 Voice and the Generalized Other in the Ethical Writings of Zygmunt BaumanShaun BestChapter 3 Race, Imperialism and Gender in Zygmunt Bauman’s Sociology- Partial Absences, Serious ConsequencesAli RattansiChapter 4 The Inevitable Clerisy- A Postsecular Critique of Zygmunt BaumanJohn MilbankChapter 5 Critical Theory Old and New- Theodor W. Adorno Meets Zygmunt Bauman in the Shopping MallMichael Hviid Jacobsen & Claus D. HansenChapter 6 Not Yet- Probing the Potentials and Problems in the Utopian Understandings of Ernst Bloch and Zygmunt BaumanMartin Aidnik & Michael Hviid JacobsenChapter 7 Exploring Modernity’s Hidden Agenda in Europe- The Complementary Contributions of Zygmunt Bauman and Ernest GellnerDennis SmithChapter 8 "Getting to Norway"- Do We Need to Go Beyond Zygmunt Bauman and Pierre Bourdieu in Order to Understand Contemporary Norwegian Society?Rune Åkvik NilsenChapter 9 Overcritique and Ambiguity in Zygmunt Bauman’s Sociology- A Long-Term PerspectiveRichard KilminsterChapter 10 Keeping Other Options Alive- Zygmunt Bauman, Hermeneutics and Sociological AlternativesMatt DawsonChapter 11 Paradoxes and Ambivalences of Liquid Modernity- Zygmunt Bauman and the Peculiar Solidity of LiquidityMichael Hviid Jacobsen

'Bauman’s sociology questions a world taken too much for granted. Bauman is interested in questions not answers. The contributors to this book now ask questions about Bauman’s work. They show how the work opens analytical avenues, and demonstrate how attention to its foundations can explain its focus and blindspots.'- Keith Tester, Thesis Eleven Centre for Cultural Sociology, LaTrobe University, Australia 'Twenty years ago there was no Bauman industry. Now there are calls for deindustrialization. Why are we still talking about Bauman? His is an untidy prominence. This volume looks to sorting him out. As we move on, what do we carry with us? These are pressing questions for those who follow, Beyond Bauman.' - Professor Peter Beilharz, Curtin University, Australia and Visiting Professor, Bauman Institute, University of Leeds, U.K'In choosing to engage so critically with Bauman’s vast output, this wonderful collection clearly takes his sociological imagination very seriously. Edited by one of the world’s finest commentators on his work, this volume provides a vital reference point for scholars and students seeking a more robust examination of Bauman’s ideas.' – Mark Davis, Founding Director of the Bauman Institute, University of Leeds, UK