Wolność i bezpieczeństwo w płynnej nowoczesności
Freedom and Security in Liquid Modernity

Summary/Abstract: In many publications Zygmunt Bauman used a metaphor of a pendulum extendingbetween freedom and security. He claimed that the shape of the relationship betweenthese two values, which he considered both as opposite and complementary, was a goodindicator of social and cultural changes. In this regard he devoted much attentionto transformations of modernity. Bauman argued that the characteristic feature ofthe transition process from solid to liquid modernity was a definite appreciationof freedom in relation to security. However, the consequence of this situation wasdevelopment of the sense of insecurity, which was fuelled, according to Bauman, bythe ruling authorities perceiving these actions as one of the sources legitimizing theirpower. Such a situation caused that the pendulum has recently begun to swing overto the opposite side. In his opinion, in the era of growing social distances, terroristthreats and migration crisis, security is gaining more and more supporters. In thearticle I focus on the critical analysis of Bauman’s findings regarding both conceptsmentioned. In addition, I will indicate the way of establishing balance between themwhich he presented in his engaged sociology.

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