Modernity, Postmodernity and Social Theory
Chapter 19 Further reading and weblinks

Bauman, Z. 1989 Modernity and the Holocaust, Polity Press, Cambridge
This work is challenging but Bauman's is well known as a provocative, even inspiring, testament to the value of social science analysis. Notions of relativism get their most severe test with this material and Chapter 19 offers a clear statement of the author's view of the future role of sociology.

Bauman, Z. (1992) Intimations of Postmodernity, Routledge, London
This may be slightly difficult, but it offers a vision of the place of sociology in a changed world. Students may also gain from going back to the classic statements on these themes and debating them: see Max Weber's 'Politics as a Vocation' and 'Science as a Vocation' in Gerth, H. H. and Mills, C. W. (eds) (1970) From Max Weber, Routledge, Kegan & Paul, London.

Lash, S. and J. Friedman (1992) Modernity and Identity, Blackwell, Oxford
The authors have edited an exceptionally useful collection on these issues and it is an excellent source for authoritative essays on identity in modernity and postmodernity.

Rabinow, P. (1984) The Foucault Reader, Penguin, Harmondsworth
Of all the multitude of books on Foucault, this edited collection still stands out in giving students an accessible means of judging Foucault for themselves, and getting a taste of the richness of his writing.