Throughout the career of the renowned sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, who passed away on January 9, 2017, a strand of the utopian impulse continued to manifest itself in his work. From his early socialist orientation to his later, more humanistic expressions and his analysis and critique of the liquid modern society, a development poignantly described by Michael Jacobsen in an article in this journal in 2004,1 Bauman's sociology was driven by seeking possibilities and alternatives to the society that he described and (...) explained, a quest for hope in the long term in a situation that justified pessimism in the short and middle term. His utopianism was not an attempt to sketch a blueprint of another society but an impulse... (shrink)

This review discusses Zygmunt Bauman’s Retrotopia, published shortly after the renowned sociologist’s death, in the light of his engagement with the thought of Pope Francis during the last years of his life. It traces some of the main themes of this engagement, and addresses its role and importance in the context of the book as well as in the aims of Bauman’s sociology as a whole. As the insecurities and anxieties of liquid modernity in our increasingly violent world lead many (...) to give up on the effort of building a better future and turn towards the ‘retrotopia’ of an ideal past, a crucial sign of hope is found in the words of Pope Francis. In his efforts as a sociologist, Zygmunt Bauman seeks to redirect our gaze to the future and to engage in dialogue, understood as the art of living together. (shrink)