Social dislocation makes societies seem formless and incapable of resisting imposed designs.

Evidence

Periods of deep social dislocations are times when this most remarkable feature of modernity comes into its own. Indeed, at no other time does society seem to be so formless – ‘unfinished’, indefinite and pliable – literally waiting for a vision and a skilful and resourceful designer to give it a form. At no other time does society seem so devoid of forces and tendencies of its own, and hence incapable of resisting the hand of the gardener, and ready to be squeezed into any form he chooses. The combination of malleability and helplessness constitutes an attraction which few self-confident adventurous visionaries could resist. It also constitutes a situation in which they cannot be resisted. — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 330

Categorization

• XREF: The malleability-plus-helplessness condition parallels Gramsci’s analysis of crisis moments when hegemony weakens — reader’s stated toolkit includes hegemony. — connects to: Planned social systems produce lives that are intolerably dull. — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1928

Related

• Planned social systems produce lives that are intolerably dull. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Planned social systems produce lives that are intolerably dull. #expands (0.75) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1928