The unfinished project of Holocaust sociology: Zygmunt Bauman and Gillian Rose in dialogue

This paper addresses ‘generations’ in Holocaust scholarship with a specific focus on late 20th century British sociology, drawing on archived correspondence exchanged between Gillian Rose and Zygmunt Bauman between 1989-90. At this time, Bauman presented a challenge to sociological analysis in Modernity and the Holocaust (1989) and Rose had accepted a Chair at Warwick to develop what she termed ‘Holocaust Sociology’ at Warwick. The paper explores why these thinkers turned to the Holocaust at this time and addresses the question of whether they can be situated as part of a generation of Jewish sociologists whose delayed registering of the Holocaust occurred amidst the proliferation of cultural processes of Holocaust memorialisation in the 1980s. Moreover, given Rose’s early death and Bauman’s turn to more general themes in his sociology, as well as the general neglect of the Holocaust in British sociology after 1989, it will consider whether their project remains unfinished.