Community

Name: Community
ISBN: 9787515528618

齐格蒙特·鲍曼 / 欧阳景根Gold Wall Press · ChinaJun 2026

4.3

Word count: 89K words
Chapters: 12
ISBN: 9787515528618

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Summary

In traditional society, community was a warm harbor of neighboring solidarity and mutual reliance; under liquid modernity, those natural bonds have fractured, and community has become a cherished yet elusive luxury.\nOnce, we found security in the collective; now, we long to huddle together for warmth while fearing the loss of freedom, weathering unemployment and skills obsolescence alone, lost in identity and isolated by class divides.\nThis book confronts the pain points of modern existence, dissecting the eternal tug-of-war between freedom and uncertainty, and tracing the evolution of community and its present predicament. It articulates everyone's longing for belonging, offering the most profound spiritual guidance for those of us seeking connection and calm in an uncertain world.

Editor's review

In this book, Bauman tackles a subject that seems warm but is in fact sharp: community. In traditional society, community meant neighboring solidarity and mutual reliance—a sense of belonging that existed without question; under liquid modernity, those natural bonds have gradually loosened, and community has shifted from something we had to something we crave. The book's value lies not in offering a blueprint for rebuilding community but in clearly articulating the modern dilemma—we want to huddle together for security yet fear losing our freedom and autonomy in the process. Bauman's writing is restrained yet incisive, adept at placing everyday pains—anxiety about unemployment, skills obsolescence, identity, class alienation—back into structural change, making readers realize that personal loneliness is not purely a private matter. Suited to slow reading on a commute, before bed, or in a quiet stretch of time, especially for readers with a lived sense of missing belonging who are not satisfied with chicken-soup-style comfort. Reading it won't be easy, but it offers a clearer sense of self-location.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers with a lived sense of missing belonging in modern society
University students and researchers interested in sociology and modernity
Working professionals seeking to understand the tension between freedom and security
Readers who enjoy reflective essays and are not satisfied with shallow psychological comfort

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting concrete community-building plans or how-to manuals
Those who prefer light, healing, fast-paced reading
Readers with no sociology background who are unwilling to engage with abstract argument

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and introduction first to grasp the book's central questions, then move into the chapters.
Jot down your own experiences of belonging dilemmas and read them against the book's arguments.
Pause after each chapter and restate the core argument in a sentence or two to avoid skimming.
Read alongside the author's other works on modernity for a more complete framework of understanding.

About the publisher

Gold Wall Press China · Founded in 1989

Gold Wall Press is a publisher active in the fields of social culture and intellectual reading, with titles spanning social culture, literary appreciation, medicine, war and military life, and social psychology. In academic and intellectual publishing, it has released works by Zygmunt Bauman such as Individualized Society and Community, along with related writings by scholars including Cheng Boqing and Ouyang Jinggen. Its writing and creativity list is represented by John Truby's The Anatomy of Genres writing masterclass. Medical and psychological titles include Stephen W. Porges's Polyvagal Theory guide in three volumes and works such as I Try So Hard to Live. Literary works include Chen Gui and Shadow. It should be noted that public information on the press's full publishing history and organization is limited; the above introduction is based mainly on the publishing directions reflected in the books in the catalog.

版权信息
序曲欢迎来到捉摸不透的共同体
第一章坦塔罗斯的痛苦
第二章重新植根被根除之物
第三章分离的时代，或第二种形式的伟大转变
第四章成功者的脱离
第五章共同体主义的两个渊源
第六章承认权和再分配
第七章从平等到多元文化主义
第八章结果：隔离区
第九章多种文化，一种人性
跋

FAQ

Do I need a sociology background to understand this book?

No professional background is required. Although Bauman's discussion involves concepts such as modernity and community, it mostly starts from everyday experience, and the language is not obscure. Readers with a sociology background will grasp the thread faster, but general readers willing to read slowly and connect the text to their own situation can also get into it. It is advisable to start with the introduction and not feel obliged to finish all the arguments in one go.

How is this book different from ordinary books about loneliness?

It does not treat loneliness as a personal emotional problem but traces the shift of community from 'naturally existing' to 'hard to reach,' understanding individual predicaments within changes in social structure. What readers get is not comforting rhetoric but an explanatory framework: why we long for connection while fearing the loss of freedom. This structural perspective is what sets the book apart.

Is it a heavy read? When is a good time to read it?

The themes are indeed on the heavy side, involving real pain points such as unemployment risk, identity confusion, and class alienation, but the author's writing is restrained rather than sentimental. It is best read when you have energy and quiet time to think, about one chapter at a time, with time to digest afterward—no need to rush.

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About the author

齐格蒙特·鲍曼 Author

Public information about Zygmunt Bauman's life is limited; his nationality and dates of birth and death cannot be confirmed here. Judging from the six works held in the collection, his writing centers on sociology and social and cultural criticism, commonly classified under social science, social culture, and finance and economics. Representative works include Work, Consumerism and the New Poor; The Individualized Society; Community; Mortality, Immortality and Other Life Strategies; Living on Borrowed Time: Conversations on Postmodern Society; and How Consumerism Manipulates Us. These titles show a sustained concern with consumerism, individualization, communal bonds, and the postmodern condition. He tends to ground abstract social mechanisms in everyday experience, and his prose combines diagnosis with a conversational quality, making it accessible to readers interested in social theory and cultural criticism.

欧阳景根 Author

Public information about Ouyang Jinggen is limited. His nationality, dates of birth and death, and full educational background cannot presently be confirmed, and no authoritative biographical account is available. According to the library's holdings, only one work appears under his name, Community, which is classified in the field of society and culture. It may therefore be inferred that his writing interests center on issues such as the composition, identity, and maintenance of social communities, and that his work belongs to humanities and social science writing aimed at general readers. On the available evidence, his style emphasizes conceptual clarification and attention to real life, seeking to connect theoretical discussion with everyday experience and to prompt readers to consider how individuals belong to groups and how shared life is possible. Because both the number of works and the biographical materials are insufficient, his intellectual lineage, stages of writing, and social influence are difficult to assess accurately; the above introduction is only a preliminary summary based on the available bibliographic information.