This scintillating book by one of the most interesting young sociologists currently working in the USA is a provocative and timely contribution to the debate on civilization, modernity and postmodernity. The author argues that modernity never jettisoned barbarism. Instead barbarism was repackaged in modern and postmodern traditions and cultures.

Chapter 1 How to comprehend barbarism in the midst of enlightenment; Chapter 2 Methodological and empirical issues in perceiving modern barbarism; Chapter 3 Barbarism and the idea of progress; Chapter 4 Finding a ground for discourse; Chapter 5 Choosing philosophical trajectories regarding barbarism; Chapter 6 Deconstructing the problem of social order; Chapter 7 Moving beyond hermeneutics; Chapter 8 Reconstructing homo duplex; Chapter 9 Civilized barbarism: the nature of psychic wounds; Chapter 10 Barbarism and human agency; Chapter 11 Conclusions;