In this book one of the leading social theorists in the West tackles the subject which, in the last 10 to 15 years, has bewitched social scientists: culture.

Bauman seeks to classify the meanings of culture, distinguishing between culture as a concept, culture as a structure and culture as praxis. He analyzes the different ways in which culture has been used in each of these settings. Argueing against a relativist approach, he is wary of treatments which examine culture in the form of reportage. For Bauman, culture is a living, changing aspect of human interaction which must be understood and studied as a universal of human life.

At the heart of his approach is the proposition that culture is inherently ambivalent. According to Bauman, culture is as much an agent of disorder as it is a tool of order; as much a factor of ageing and obsolescence as a condition of timelessness. At one and the same time it is the seat of creativity and the framework of normative regulation. He illustrates how approaches which prioritize one side of culture over the other are bound to produce a skewed understanding of the subject.

Originally published thirty years ago, this new edition includes a major new introduction, which demonstrates the relevance of Culture as Praxis to Bauman's more recent work on modernity, postmodernity and ethics. The book emerges as a crucial link in the development of Bauman's thought. By his own admission, it was the first of his books to grope towards a new kind of social theory, in contrast to the false certainties and gross theorems that dominated much of the post war period. This is Bauman at his best, at his most subtle and his most searching. It isrequired reading for anyone interested in social theory and cultural studies.