Meandry życia i twórczości Zygmunta Baumana

Abstract

Zygmunt Bauman — born in Poland, a well-known and at the same time a controversialrepresentative of social sciences. Professor in the field of sociology, also counted amongcontemporary philosophers, creators of new paradigms and concepts of contemporary socialphilosophy and cultural theory. As one of the most eminent and most frequently quoted Polishsociologists and philosophers in the world, alongside Piotr Sztompka and Leszek Kolakowski,he gained fame in particular as the creator of the concept of postmodernism (post-modernity),liquid modernity (late modernity). The author in question belonged to a small group of Polishintellectuals whose works were not only on the shelves of university libraries around the world,but were also read with attention and commented. To the wider circle of readers he was knownas an essayist and promoter of new trends in social sciences. Criticism, however, often concernednot so much his scientific output as political commitment, social and moral attitude. Until theend of his life he struggled with very critical assessments of his activities during cooperationwith security services in the post-war years. On the other hand, his family, both in the interwarperiod in Poland, during the Nazi occupation and after the war, and especially after 1968, wasexposed to numerous acts of persecution by anti-Semitic social and political circles. The articlediscusses the meanders and controversies of life and work of Polish-Jewish representative ofsocial sciences and an active participant in social life in Poland and other countries where hewas a refugee or exile over the course of nearly a century at the turn of two turbulent centuriesin Europe and the world, as an insightful observer of social life, raised, living and strugglingwith adversities at the crossroads of different cultures.