ABSTRACT
Bauman’s Modernity and the Holocaust has been hugely influential but, among sociologists at least, received without extensive critical analysis. This might paradoxically have been a consequence of the problem it set out to address - the inadequate attention the Holocaust has received in mainstream sociology. Though bold and innovative in some ways, Bauman’s thesis drew on existing critiques of modernity, including critical theory and post-Holocaust theology, although these diverse strands were eclectically drawn into a partial and fragmented, rather than comprehensive critique of modernity’s culpability. Further, there is a curious sense of an absent object of critique, in that despite passing reference to the ‘myth of the civilising process’ Nobert Elias is never identified as an interlocutor. Examination of this ‘debate’ highlights critical issues in Bauman’s concept of modernity, which anyway significantly shifted in his later work. Subsequent to Bauman’s thesis, extensive new research on the Holocaust (and other genocides) could be seen to question the claim that this was in essence a calculated and bureaucratic process. Two important issues here are, firstly, the involvement of local populations in mass murder, and secondly, the extent of corporate and individual financial gain from the Holocaust. This discussion will draw out these issues, critically address Bauman’s understanding of modernity, but also look beyond this to assess the significance of the Holocaust for social theory.
