Wasted Lives: Modernity and Its Outcasts

The production of 'human waste' - or more precisely, wasted lives, the 'superfluous' populations of migrants, refugees and other outcasts - is an inevitable outcome of modernization. As large parts of the world remain unaffected by modernization, they are treated by modernizing societies as lands that can absorb excess population from developed countries. This has led to a global spread of modernity, resulting in growing quantities of people deprived of adequate means of survival. The planet is running out of places to put these individuals, giving rise to new anxieties about immigration and asylum seekers. Zygmunt Bauman's book unravels the impact of this transformation on contemporary culture and politics, revealing that the problem of coping with 'human waste' provides a key for understanding some otherwise baffling features of our shared life. The consequences of modernization are far-reaching, affecting everything from global domination to intimate human relationships. This thought-provoking book offers insights into the complexities of our modern world, making it a valuable resource for anyone interested in sociology and the social sciences.