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Bauman’s global “tourists” are
mobile members of the social elite who
possess the wealth and occupational
status necessary to enjoy the most
positive aspects of liquid modernity.as Bauman calls them, are people
who are immobile, or subject to
forced mobility, and excluded from
consumer culture. Life for them
involves either being mired in
places where unemployment is
high and the standard of living is
very poor, or being forced to leave
their country of origin as economic
or political refugees in search of
employment, or in response to
the threat of war or persecution.
Anywhere they stay for too long
soon becomes inhospitable.
For Bauman, mass migration
and transnational flows of people
around the globe are among the
hallmarks of liquid modernity and
are factors contributing to the
unpredictable and constantly
changing nature of everyday life:
Bauman’s social categories of
tourists and vagabonds occupy
two extremes of this phenomenon.
Applying Bauman’s theory
Zygmunt Bauman is considered
one of the most influential and
eminent sociologists of the modern
age. He prefers not to align himself
with any particular intellectual
tradition—his writings are relevant
to a vast range of disciplines, from
ethics, media, and cultural studies
to political theory and philosophy.
Within sociology, his work on liquid
modernity is regarded by the vast
majority of thinkers as a unique
contribution to the field.
The Irish sociologist Donncha
Marron has applied Bauman’s
concept of liquid modernity to
a critical rethinking of consumer
credit within the US. Following
Bauman’s suggestion that
consumption of goods and brands
is a key feature of how individuals
construct personal identity,
Marron notes that the credit
card is an important tool in
this process because it is ideally
suited for enabling people to
adapt to the kind of fluid ways of
living Bauman depicts. The credit
card can, for example, be used to
fund shopping trips to satisfy
consumer desire. It makes paying
for things easier, quicker, and
considerably more manageable.
The credit card of course also
serves the function, says Marron,
of meeting day-to-day bills and
expenses, as people move between
jobs or make significant career
moves. And the physical card itselfLIVING IN A GLOBAL WORLD
can often be co-branded with
things the owner is interested in,
such as football teams, charities,
or stores. These co-branded cards
represent a small but revealing
means whereby a person is able to
select and present a sense of who
they are to the outside world. ■If you define your value by the
things you acquire... being
excluded is humiliating.
Zygmunt Bauman‘Community’ is nowadays
another name for
paradise lost.
Zygmunt Bauman