Work, Consumerism and the New Poor / Edition 2

by Zygmunt Bauman, Tim May

Overview

From one of today's most eminent thinkers--a piercing examination of poverty in the modern age

If "being poor" once derived its meaning from the condition of being unemployed, today it draws its meaning primarily from the plight of a flawed consumer. This distinction truly makes a difference in the way poverty is experienced and in the chances to redeem its misery.

This absorbing book traces this change, and makes an inventory of its social consequences. It also considers ways of fighting back advancing poverty and mitigating its hardships, and tackles the problems of poverty in its present form.

The new edition features: Up-to-date coverage of the progress made by key thinkers in the field A discussion of recent work on redundancy, disposability, and exclusion Explorations of new theories of workable solutions to poverty

Students of sociology, politics, and social policy will find this to be an invaluable text on the changing significance and implications of an enduring social problem.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780335215980
Publisher:	McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing
Publication date:	09/28/2004
Series:	Issues in Society Ser.
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	1,035,656
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.39(d)

About the Author

Zygmunt Bauman is an emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Leeds. He is one of the foremost commentators on the postmodern condition. His latest books include "Postmodernity and Its Discontents "and "The Globals and the Locals."

Table of Contents

	Series editor's foreword	vii
	Introduction to the first edition	1
Part I3
1	The meaning of work: producing the work ethic	5
2	From the work ethic to the aesthetic of consumption	23
Part II43
3	The rise and fall of the welfare state	45
4	The work ethic and the new poor	63
5	Work and redundancy in the globalized world	87
Part III103
6	Prospects for the new poor	105
	Notes	122
	Index	129

Editorial Reviews

Traces the change from poverty as a condition of being unemployed to poverty as the plight of being a flawed consumer and looks at social consequences of this change. Considers to what extent the tested means of fighting poverty and mitigating its hardships are fit or unfit to tackle the problems of poverty in its present form. Discussion encompasses the meaning of work, the aesthetic of consumption, the welfare state, the underclass, and prospects for the new poor. Of interest to students of sociology, politics, and social policy. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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