Was ist »modern« an Baumans »Moderne«?

Abstract

The article tries to problematize Zygmunt Bauman’s understanding of »modernity« since it rests on a social science discourse which is in need of being historicized. As will be shown, the (sociological) concept of »modernity« is a rather new one that was created and then widely used not before the 1970s, a concept which was hardly ever a purely analyti-cal one, but one with enormous political implications. If this is so, then the question should be asked whether Bauman’s oftentimes brilliant sociological insights could be used even more fruitfully if one would re-frain from using this concept.