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addressed primarily national
issues and problems. Enlightenment
values were institutionally
entrenched in the figurehead
of the State—the primary point of
reference from which emerged the
development of social, political, and
economic ideals.
At the level of the individual,
claims Bauman, solid modernity
gave rise to a stable repertoire of
personal identities and possible
versions of selfhood. Solid modern
individuals have a unified, rational,
and stable sense of personal
identity, because it is informed by
a number of stable categories, such
as occupation, religious affiliation,
nationality, gender, ethnicity,
leisure pursuits, lifestyle, and so
on. Social life under the conditions
of solid modernity—like the
individuals it created—was self-
assured, rational, bureaucratically
organized, and relatively
predictable and stable.From solid to liquid
The transition from solid to liquid
modernity, according to Bauman,
has occurred as a result of a
confluence of profound and
connected economic, political,
and social changes. The result
is a global order propelled by
what Bauman describes as a
“compulsive, obsessive, and
addictive reinventing of the world.”
Bauman identifies five distinct,
but interrelated, developments that
have brought about the transition
from solid to liquid modernity.
First, nation-states are no longer
the “key load-bearing structures”
of society; national governments
today have considerably less power
to determine events both at home
and abroad. Second, global
capitalism has risen and multi-
and transnational corporations
have proliferated, resulting in
a decentering of state authority.ZYGMUNT BAUMAN
Bauman’s idea of solid modernity
was embodied by Enlightenment
thinkers such as Isaac Newton
(depicted here by William Blake),
who used reason to transform society.
Third, electronic technologies
and the Internet now allow for
near-instant, supranational
flows of communication. Fourth,
societies have become ever more
preoccupied by risk—dwelling on
insecurities and potential hazards.
And fifth, there has been huge
growth in human migration
across the globe.Defining liquid modernity
As Bauman himself observes,
attempting to define liquid
modernity is something of a
paradox, because the term refers
to a global condition that is
characterized by unrelenting
change, flux, and uncertainty.
However, having identified the
traits of solid modernity, he
claims it is possible to define
the most prominent aspects
of liquid modernity.
At an ideological level, liquid
modernity undermines the
Enlightenment ideal that scientific
knowledge can ameliorate natural
and social problems. In liquid
modernity, science, experts,
university-based academics, and
government officials—once the
supreme figures of authority in
solid modernity—occupy a highly
ambiguous status as guardians
of the truth. Scientists areThe population of every
country is nowadays a
collection of diasporas.
Zygmunt Bauman