Contemporary understanding of human subjectivity has come a long way
since the Cartesian 'thinking thing' or Freud's view of the self
struggling with its unconscious. We no longer think of ourselves as
stable and indivisible units or combinations thereof - instead, we see
the self as constantly reinvented and reorganised in interaction with
others and with its social and cultural environments. But the world in
which we live today is one of uncertainty where nothing can be taken for
granted. Coping with change is a challenge but it also presents new
opportunities.
Uncertainty can be both liberating and oppressive. How does an
individual understand her or his position in the world? Are we as human
beings determined by our genetic heritage, social circumstances and
cultural preferences, or are we free in our choices? How does selfhood
emerge? Does it follow the same pattern of development in all people,
all cultures, all ages? Or is it a socio-cultural construction that
cannot be understood outside its historical context? Are the patterns of
selfhood fundamentally changing in the present world? Does new
technology allow us more autonomy or does it tempt us to give up the
freedoms we have?
These are the questions that Zygmunt Bauman and Rein Raud explore in
their engaging and wide-ranging dialogue, combining their competences in
sociology, philosophy and cultural theory to look at how selfhood is
produced in social practice, through language, efforts of
self-presentation and self-realisation as well as interaction with
others. An indispensable text for understanding the complexities of
selfhood in our contemporary liquid-modern world.
