A blog of aggregated miscellanea and things I like uncovered from my daily travails. I'm Jacob, a peripatetic interdisciplinary designer of British persuasion, having interests in gastronomy, fashion, technology, interiors and sustainability. I'm currently working on online e-Commerce and identity. I dig Macs, mountain biking and smelly cheese.
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Posts tagged “society”
Liquid Modernity
…is Zygmunt Bauman’s (a Polish sociologist) term for the present condition of the world as contrasted with the “solid” modernity that preceded it. According to Bauman, the passage from “solid” to “liquid” modernity has created a new and unprecedented setting for individual life pursuits, confronting individuals with a series of challenges never before encountered. Social forms and institutions no longer have enough time to solidify and cannot serve as frames of reference for human actions and long-term life plans, so individuals have to find other ways to organize their lives. Individuals have to splice together an unending series of short-term projects and episodes that don’t add up to the kind of sequence to which concepts like “career” and “progress” could be meaningfully applied.
Such fragmented lives require individuals to be flexible and adaptable — to be constantly ready and willing to change tactics at short notice, to abandon commitments and loyalties without regret and to pursue opportunities according to their current availability. In liquid modernity the individual must act, plan actions and calculate the likely gains and losses of acting (or failing to act) under conditions of endemic uncertainty.
![Under a fair carbon allocation (per person), the US would deplete its allowance for 50 years in just 6 years, Europe in 12 and China in 24. India is one of the few countries that would have a large carbon surplus (of 38 years), due to its low level of current development. [via Fair carbon means no carbon for rich countries - New Scientist]](http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kqb9zrbza21qz4yr8o1_500.jpg)
Under a fair carbon allocation (per person), the US would deplete its allowance for 50 years in just 6 years, Europe in 12 and China in 24. India is one of the few countries that would have a large carbon surplus (of 38 years), due to its low level of current development. [via Fair carbon means no carbon for rich countries - New Scientist]
“ to create behavior change we need to start thinking of people as herd animals. […] The consumer analogue Earls would point to is the white ear buds for iPod. ”
“ The French president has announced a «revolutionary» plan to make joy and wellbeing the key indicators of growth, rather than traditional yardsticks like a country’s gross domestic product (GDP). ”
“ Italian authorities have found the wreck of a ship sunk by the mafia with 180 barrels of toxic waste on board, one of more than 30 such vessels ”
“Probably the only acceptable long-term solution to avoid a global systemic collapse of industrial society, caused by these resource constraints, is a path towards managed austerity.” (via No Tech Magazine: Materials = Energy)
![‘Yadhu (4) making bricks’ (Nepal) by Luca Catalano Gonzaga, on show at Visa pour l’image—Perpignan international festival of photojournalism. [via Wallpaper]](http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kp4o3cjY4n1qz4yr8o1_500.jpg)
‘Yadhu (4) making bricks’ (Nepal) by Luca Catalano Gonzaga, on show at Visa pour l’image—Perpignan international festival of photojournalism. [via Wallpaper]
“ A new study provides evidence for what many have long suspected: that single women are much keener on pursuing a man who’s already taken than a singleton. ”
“ It is the function of art to renew our perception. What we are familiar with we cease to see. ”
Anaïs Nin [via Bunny Mandala]
“ the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges ”
Anatole France [via Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor? - NYTimes.com]
