Bauman Archive

Following Zygmunt Bauman’s passing in January 2017, the Bauman Institute was gifted a large body of published and unpublished materials by the Bauman family.

In partnership with the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Science, and with the Special Collections Archive Team in the University’s Brotherton Library, our Archive project began in 2018 by compiling a complete and multi-lingual 'living bibliography'.

Many articles, essays and partially-completed drafts across a range of topics that were previously not a part of Bauman’s published work have been discovered through this activity. In addition, in organizing and archiving Bauman’s papers and data files (spread across countless floppy disks), we have discovered further drafts of papers, lectures and module summaries that provide expansions and updates on previously discussed topics or that wander down forking paths previously unknown to us as readers.

Working with professional archivists and data management experts to collate, index, and make available to the public a vast and unique body of hitherto unseen material is of significant interest to an international readership interested in a complete portrait of Bauman’s work, which so far is only partially illuminated. We are also exploring the writings and influence of Janina Bauman, especially in relation to the themes of genocide, the Holocaust, and the lived experience of ‘Jewishness’ that characterise her work.