SYSTEMS PSYCHOLOGY
AND SOCIOLOGY

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SOCIAL RISKS OF MODERNITY AND THREATS TO IDENTITY: SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF Z. BAUMAN’S CONCEPT

O. A. Dobrina,

NSPU, Novosibirsk,

dobrina­o@mail.ru

This paper purposes to generalize, systematize and clarify the basic concepts of the theory of social risk and threats to identity in scientific work of the Polish-British philosopher and sociologist Z. Bauman. Bauman’s contribution to the development of the unifying approach characteristic of modern post-non-classical sociology is noted. The concepts of uncertainty and fluid modernity, the interaction of freedom and morality and retrotopia are analyzed.

Liquid modernity is presented as a special status of postmodern society, eroding traditional social foundations, structures, social ties. The core values of liquid modernity are freedom and consumption. Postmodern man seeks to free himself from the social and interpersonal obligations that bind him and to embody the ideal of unlimited consumption of new experiences and pleasures. The study presents the social consequences of this social attitude: the spread and legitimization of violence, organizational manipulation, social inequality and «self-inflicted» loneliness. The concept of retrotopia as a social construct of the idealized past is considered. The most significant element of the ideal social reconstruction is revealed: dialogue that restores the relations of discipleship, discipline and equality.

The author reveals the ideas about social risks and threats to identity, implicitly present in Bauman’s theory. Social risks are associated with the threat of loss of personal, professional, family, ethnic and civic identity; reduction of social cohesion and other priorities of sustainable development; unpredictability of consequences of random and irrational human choices; increasing social tension and frustration. These trends also lead to an exacerbation of socially negative experiences of loneliness, rejection and uselessness; they create risks of socialization defects for children born and brought up outside the family stability and security.

The author emphasizes the high level of perspective of Bauman’s theory to the development of the integrative paradigm of contemporary sociology and the possibility of introducing a deontological approach to modern theoretical sociology.

Keywords: uncertainty; liquid modernity; freedom; morality; retrotopia; social risks; threats to identity; systematic analysis; Z. Bauman.

For citation: Dobrina O. A. Social Risks of Modernity and Threats to Identity: Systematic Analysis of Z. Bauman’s Concept // Systems Psychology and Sociology. 2019. 4 (32). P. 92–102. DOI: 10.25688/22236872.2019.32.4.08.

Dobrina Olga Aleksandrovna, PhD in Sociology, associate professor at the Department of Social Psychology and Victimology of the Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, Novosibirsk, Russia.

Е-mail: dobrina-o@mail.ru

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