Interview of Zygmunt Bauman by El Pais

Zygmunt Bauman: “Social media are a trap”
The Polish-born sociologist is skeptical about the possibilities for political change

El Pais: You say that progress is a myth, because people no longer believe the future will be better than the past.
Zygmunt Baumann: We are in a period of interregnum, between a time when we had certainties and another when the old ways of doing things no longer work. We don’t know what is going to replace this. We are experimenting with new ways of doing things. Spain tried questioning things through the May 15 (15M) movement, when people took over public spaces, arguing, trying to replace parliamentary procedures with a kind of direct democracy. This hasn’t lasted long. Austerity policies will continue, nobody could stop them, but they could still be relatively effective in finding new ways to do things. >>

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