Michael Hviid Jacobsen is Chair of Sociology at the University of Aalborg, Denmark and is Co-Editor of Dansk Sociologi and Acta Sociologica. Poul Poder is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Contents: Introduction: the sociology of Zygmunt Bauman - challenge and critique, Michael Hviid Jacobsen and Poul Poder. Part 1 Methodological Issues: Bauman on metaphors - a harbinger of humanistic hybrid sociology, Michael Hviid Jacobsen and Sophia Marshman; Bauman on ambivalence - fully acknowledging the ambiguity of ambivalence, Matthias Junge. Part 2 Ethics: Bauman on ethics - intimate ethics for a global world?, Manni Crone; Bauman on genocide - modernity and mass murder: from classification to annihilation?, Sophia Marshman. Part 3 Social Integration: Bauman on freedom - consumer freedom as the integration mechanism of liquid society, Poul Poder; Bauman on consumerism - living the marked-mediated life, Tony Blackshaw; Bauman on globalization - the human consequences of a liquid world, Mark Davis; Bauman on strangers - unwanted peculiarities, Niclas MÃ¥nsson. Part 4 Politics: Bauman on politics - stillborn democracy, Mikael Carleheden; Bauman on power - from 'solid' to 'light'?, Robert Campain; Bauman on Utopia - welcome to the hunting zone, Michael Hviid Jacobsen. Postscript: Bauman on Bauman - pro domo sua, Zygmunt Bauman; Index.

Zygmunt Bauman is one of the most inspirational and controversial thinkers on the scene of contemporary sociology. For several decades he has provided compelling analyses and diagnoses of a vast variety of aspects of modern and liquid modern living. This book considers the theoretical significance of his contribution to sociology, but also discusses and adopts a critical stance towards his work. The Sociology of Zygmunt Bauman introduces and critically appraises some of the most significant as well as some of the lesser known of Bauman's contributions to contemporary sociology. An international team of scholars delineates and discusses how Bauman's treatment of these themes challenges conventional wisdom in sociology, thereby revising and revitalizing sociological theory. As a special feature, the book concludes with Bauman's intriguing reflections and contemplations on his own life and intellectual trajectory, published here for the first time in English. In this postscript aptly entitled 'Pro Domo Sua' ('About Myself'), he describes the pushes and pulls that throughout the years have shaped his thinking.