Post Society

The pandemic has caused a transition to a "post-society" where social distancing is the norm, real social relations are diminished, existential loneliness is widespread, and we voluntarily submit to new forms of surveillance and control. Emotions are increasingly assuming a central role in social life, accelerated by the pandemic, leading to a new post-social condition with more humanity and less sociality.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 182 pages
Publication date: 28 July 2022
Publisher: Polity Press

The world is in a state of transition, propelled by a pandemic that has disrupted numerous aspects of the social world that we once took for granted. We have moved beyond the 'solid modernity' of the twentieth century and even the 'liquid modernity' so brilliantly analyzed by Zygmunt Bauman, but what kind of society is emerging around us? In this thought-provoking reflection on the current state of our world, Carlo Bordoni argues that we are on the cusp of 'post-society,' a condition in which social distancing becomes the norm, real social relations are diminishing in favor of those mediated by technology, existential loneliness becomes widespread, and we find ourselves voluntarily submitting to new forms of surveillance and control in the hope of increasing our security. Emotions are increasingly assuming a central role in social life, not only because of the growing prevalence of social media, which provide platforms for the public expression of emotion, but also because emotions have been liberated from the 'repression of emotionality' that had characterized modern society. While many of these developments are rooted in broader social transformations, they were all deepened and accelerated by the pandemic, which propelled us headlong into a brave new world where social relations are sustained without physical contact but with intense communication. This is the new post-social condition: more humanity, less sociality.

While many of these developments are rooted in broader social transformations, they were all deepened and accelerated by the pandemic, which propelled us headlong into a brave new world where social relations are sustained without physical contact but with intense communication. This is the new post-social condition: more humanity, less sociality.

Weight: 204g
Dimension: 224 x 133 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509553914