Sociologists argue that the holocaust is an illustrative case of the destructive side of modernity. In his text, Modernity and the Holocaust, Bauman suggests that the holocaust allowed never before seen aspects of society to surface. Despite such aspects being new to society, they were natural and dormant in people until provided with the appropriate circumstances.
When discussing modernity, Bauman describes the way in which society has shifted from solid modernity to liquid modernity. Liquid modernity describes the current condition of constant mobility and changes that occur in relationships, identities, and global economics within society. Modernity, as a solid state, was previously seen as being largely characterized by a need for order, while at the same time consisting of contingencies and radical change. Liquid modernity
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Among these modern principles are instrumental rationality, rule following, the ordering and categorization of all of social life, and a complex division of labor. When analyzed, all of these principles played a role in the mass extermination of the Jewish people. For Bauman, postmodernity is the result of modernity’s failure to rationalize the world and the amplification of its capacity for constant change. Bauman describes that there are two ways to minimize the significance of the holocaust as the theory of civilization, modernity, and of modern civilization 1) to present the holocaust as something that happened to the Jews as an event in Jewish history, and 2) to present the holocaust as an extreme case of a wide and familiar category of social phenomena. These perspectives make the Holocaust part of an individual history, not relevant or representative of the morality of modern
“The War Against The Jews” by Lucy Dawidowicz explores a very dark time in history and interprets it from her view. Through the use of other novels, she concurs and agrees to form her opinion. This essay will explore who Dawidowicz is, why she wrote the book, what the book is about, what other authors have explored with the same topic, and how I feel about the topic she wrote about. All in all, much research will be presented throughout the essay. In the end you will see how strongly I feel about the topic I chose. I believe that although Hitler terrorized the Jews, they continued to be stronger than ever, and tried to keep up their society.
This paper will consist of the explanation of the “Structural Strain Theory” of the Holocaust. The structural strain theory examines the social and culture structure. The Holocaust had a couple different cultures and social outlooks based on their ethnicity, or location they were from. The Holocaust had the separation of Jews, Polish, and the Nazis. With this separation it held different conditions and lifestyles for each particular group and the way they can properly function to do their own culture or social practices. This theory bases the deviances to the living conditions of each group on how much goods, supplies, and or shelter they have to achieve their goals.
Goldhagen's book however, has the merit of opening up a new perspective on ways of viewing the Holocaust, and it is the first to raise crucial questions about the extent to which eliminationist anti-Semitism was present among the German population as a whole. Using extensive testimonies from the perpetrators themselves, it offers a chilling insight into the mental and cognitive structures of hundreds of Germans directly involved in the killing operations. Anti-Semitism plays a primary factor in the argument from Goldhagen, as it is within his belief that anti-Semitism "more or less governed the ideational life of civil society" in pre-Nazi Germany . Goldhagen stated that a
For many educated people, learning about the Holocaust can send them feelings of sorrow or deep remorse. Not only for the meaning of the word, but why it is called that. The pure evil of the final solution, thought of and created by none other than Adolf Hitler, will never stop haunting people more than half a decade later. One of the prominent things that everyone missed in his highly sold auto-biography "My Struggle". The thought of solid hatrid found within the cover of the horrible book will always burn in the souls that it harmed from the day it began till the dawn of today.
During World War II there was event that lead to deaths of millions of innocent people. This even is known as the holocaust, millions of innocent people were killed violently, there was mass murders, rapes and horrific tortures. The question I will attempt to answer in the course of this paper is if the holocaust was a unique event in history. In my opinion there were other mass murders that people committed justified by the feeling of being threatened. But I don 't believe that any were as horrific and inhumane as Germany’s genocide of the Jewish people.
The Holocaust, the tyrannically planned and executed mass murder of nearly six million innocent Jews by the pandemonic forces of Hitler’s Nazi regime remains till date a crime unprecedented in history. The magnitude of the Holocaust trauma is so immense that it keeps percolating to generations of survivors. The second generation children of survivors, the immediate descendants of survivors of the Holocaust have also been vicariously traumatized because of their Holocaust legacy.
The Holocaust was a very impressionable period of time. It not only got media attention during that time, but movies, books, websites, and other forms of media still remember the Holocaust. In Richard Brietman’s article, “Lasting Effects of the Holocaust,” he reviews two books and one movie that were created to reflect the Holocaust (BREITMAN 11). He notes that the two books are very realistic and give historical facts and references to display the evils that were happening in concentration camps during the Holocaust. This shows that the atrocities that were committed during the Holocaust have not been forgotten. Through historical writings and records, the harshness and evil that created the Holocaust will live through centuries, so that it may not be repeated again (BREITMAN 14).
The term genocide was being used more often during the 1940’s not because mass killings were not happening before, but because nobody labeled it as genocide. The modernity did not ruin humanity. Bauman is a significant theorist of postmodernity. On one hand, Bauman believed that the modern society was a more organized culture that sought order and that they needed to control, categorize, and explain the world so it would be governable, liable, and reasonable. It is this ordering and justifying movement that Max Weber thought that was the typical force of modernization. But, on the other hand, modernity was initially considered a radical modification or simply a change, by a endless overthrowing of custom and customary forms of culture, economy, and relationship “all that is solid melts into air,” as Marx characterized this aspect of modern society (Bauman
The Holocaust tends to be a bitter memory and an unpleasant subject to discuss. Although this event took place many years ago, repercussions are still present in the twenty first century. Especially in Germany, the Holocaust not only influences patriotism, but it also influences education and immigration policies. In contrast to other countries where nationalism is common, Germany has been forced to lessen the sense of nationalism in order to dispose false beliefs some individuals have of German racism. By allowing people from other countries to become German citizens, Germany avoids transmitting the sense of being a better and a cleaner race. A further sector influenced by the Holocaust is the education system. Approaches to teach about this event are difficult since the Holocaust is a sensitive issue and continues having vital importance in numerous families. Although the Holocaust continues conveying negative influences, the Holocaust also led to positive medical and technological improvements. In fact, numerous improvements are unknowingly implemented in societies today. Therefore, the Holocaust is one of the most horrific and influencing events in history whose repercussions are still felt in Germany today. However, in spite of the horrific occurrences, the associated medical findings and technological improvements make it intricate to look at the Holocaust as plainly evil. Thus, societies should view the Holocaust with a broader perspective.
The atomic bombings of Japanese cities and the genocides of the Holocaust are horrific events in human history. Although these events have their differences, they influence the world greatly today because they differ from each other to provide comparisons for history, have significance because of the survivors who tell their personal story, and achieve significance morally as well as immorally.
There is no doubt that the Holocaust is one of the best remembered and most studied genocides in human history. There are very few who would be puzzled by the mention of the Holocaust in today’s world as it’s impacts have been immense and lasting. Many lives were lost during this time, and many atrocities occurred- torture and persecution were pushed past the boundaries of most people’s imaginations. Throughout modern history, the Holocaust has been documented over and over again as the worst genocide- and perhaps even the worst crime- in human history. Many historians have even said it was a unique occurrence that is unparalleled by other crimes in human history. This being said, it is not difficult to argue this statement when observing and analyzing the many components of the Holocaust and of other horrible crimes that have happened.
The Holocaust, the mass killing of the Jewish people in Europe, is the largest genocide in history to this date. Over the course of the Holocaust nearly six million Jewish people were killed by the Nazi Party and Germany led by Adolf Hitler. There are multiple contributing factors to the Holocaust that made it so large in scope. Historians argue which of these factors were most significant. The most significant contributing factor is the source of the Holocaust, the reason it occurred. This source is Adolf Hitler and his hatred for Jewish people. In comparison to the choices of the Allies to not accept Jewish refugees and to not take direct military action to end the Holocaust, the most significant contributing factor of the Holocaust is that Adolf Hitler was able to easily rise to power with the support of the German people and rule Germany.
There are two reasons why the Holocaust cannot be a matter of solely academic interest. One reason is that the Holocaust has changed the course of history. The other is that nothing much happened as a product of the course of history. The main problem for concern is that we live in a society that made the Holocaust possible and the society contained nothing that could stop the Holocaust from happening. The Holocaust was considered a modern genocide, which can be described as genocide with a purpose. In this instance, the Nazis had the sole purpose of getting rid of the Jewish people. In this case, modern genocide did not betray the spirit of modernity because they did not depart from the civilizing
Throughout history individuals from different societies have had their rights restricted by others to the point where genocides have been committed. These genocides did not erupt in one day, but rather gradually, which normalized the process. Initially placing individuals into categories which are considered inferior creates circumstances conducive for genocide. Genocides require many factors to come into play, but throughout history, we have seen their reoccurrence. The Holocaust is a genocide that resulted in the death of twelve million individuals. The horrendous events which happened during this genocide should be remembered not only so that we are able to recognize the indicators of similar situations, but also so that we may learn about the effects of the event. It is important to visit the Holocaust Museum to gain knowledge about an event which profoundly changed the world.
...Bauman advances this critique of Durkheimian theory of morality by making use of Max Weber’s theory of bureaucratization and the civilized society. Bauman argues that Weber’s work helps reveal the ways in which bureaucracy has the ability to end rational action and moral thought by systematically rendering morality immune to processes overseen by irrational norms. Here he uses the Holocaust again to portray how a ‘civilized society’ can use bureaucratization to systematically administrate and orchestrate the genocide committed by the Nazi regime. After Bauman’s ‘Modernity and the Holocaust’ he refers to a new type of modernity dubbed ‘liquid modernity’ to describe a more liquid form of societal life. Bauman now believes that the liquid or fluid society is not based upon a solid structure but rather a liquid society that does not have a structure and is unsystematic.