ABSTRACT
Few sociologists have been intellectually active and diligent publicists in their 90s, and few sociologists have received as much attention in recent times as Zygmunt Bauman. Zygmunt Bauman grew up in a poor secular Jewish family in Poland. However, it soon became apparent that Bauman's anti-Zionism and criticism of Israeli policy made it difficult for him to settle down there. The Danish sociologist Michael Hviid Jacobsen has divided Bauman's intellectual production into four phases: the Marxist phase, the modernity phase, the moral or postmodern phase, and the mosaic phase. As Peter Beilharz puts it: Class means something to Bauman, but he believes we have analytically overestimated class. A common criticism of Bauman's thinking is that he portrays solid modernity as too stable and robust, and liquid modernity as too fluid. Lyon also believes that Bauman's analysis of religion is based too much on individuals' insecurities about moral choices, that he overlooks the opportunity to create enthusiastic communities that concerned Durkheim.
