Tongue Fu: Never Be Rejected Again

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. Reviewers'comments on the first edition“Zygmunt Bauman presents a cogently argued and compelling thesis... an important book from a distinguished scholar, that adds a new dimension to the poverty debate.”British Journal of Sociology “It will be of great interest and value to students, teachers and researchers in sociology and social policy... [Bauman] provides a very forceful and sophisticated statement of the case; and a very well written one too. As a wide ranging analysis of our present discontents it is an admirable example of the sort of challenge which sociology at its best can offer to us and our fellow citizens to re-assess and re-think our current social arrangements.”Work, Employment and Society “This is a stylish and persuasive analysis of the transition between the age of the ‘society of producers'to that of the ‘society of consumers'.”Political Studies It is one thing to be poor in a society of producers and universal employment; it is quite a different thing to be poor in a society of consumers, in which life projects are built around consumer choices rather than on work, professional skills or jobs. Where ‘being poor'was once linked to being unemployed, today it draws its meaning primarily from the plight of a flawed consumer. This has a significant effect on the way living in poverty is experienced and on the prospects for redeeming its misery. Work, Consumerism and the New Poor traces this change over the duration of modern history. It makes an inventory of its social consequences, and considers how effective different ways of fighting poverty and relieving its hardships are. The new edition of this seminal work features: Updated coverage of key thinkers in the fieldDiscussion of recent work on redundancy, disposability and exclusionCurrent thinking on the effects of capital flows on different countries and the changes on the shop floor through, for example, business process re-engineering New material on security and vulnerabilityKey reading for students and lecturers in sociology, politics and social policy, and those with an interest in contemporary social issues.

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.

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.

Booknews

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.

In This Volume, Zygmunt Bauman Examines How The Definition Of Being 'poor' Has Changed In Light Of The Growth Of Consumerism In Western Society, And Also Attempts To Evaluate The Relevance Of Traditional Methods Of Tackling Poverty. This Edition Discusses Redundancy, Disposability And Exclusion. The Meaning Of Work: Producing The Work Ethic -- Getting People To Work -- Work Or Perish -- Producing The Producers -- From 'better' To 'more' -- From The Work Ethic To The Aesthetic Of Consumption -- The Making Of A Consumer -- Work As Judged By Aesthetics -- Vocation As Privilege -- Being Poor In A Consumer Society -- The Rise And Fall Of The Welfare State -- Between Inclusion And Exclusion -- The Welfare State Unemployed -- The Contented Majority? -- Success That Brought The Demise -- The Work Ethic And The New Poor -- The Discovery Of The 'underclass' -- The Work Ethic Goes Underclass -- To Be Poor Is Criminal -- Expulsion From The Universe Of Moral Obligations -- Prospects For The New Poor -- The Poor Without Role -- No Role, No Moral Duty -- Ethic Of Work Or Ethic Of Life? Zygmunt Bauman. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [122]-128) And Index. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 ForeWord 7 Introduction 10 Part I 12 Chapter 01 13 Chapter 02 31 Part II 51 Chapter 03 52 Chapter 04 70 Chapter 05 94 Part III 109 Chapter 06 110 Notes 127 Index 134 Explores the relationship between social theory, families and changing issues in familial relationships and charts social and economic changes and their impact on the family