Strangeness and Recognition: The Realistic Representation and Deciphering Exploration of Fluidity in Modern Society

Huiyu Zhou

doi:10.54097/ptd3m871

Authors

Huiyu Zhou

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/ptd3m871

Keywords:

Fluidity, Society of Strangers, Ethical Risk, Recognition

Abstract

To achieve a deeper understanding of modernity and postmodernity from the perspective of public administration, this paper comparatively examines Modernity and the Holocaust and The Language of Public Administration: Bureaucracy, Modernity, and Postmodernity. Modernity emphasizes science and rationality, utilizing Weberian bureaucracy to achieve organizational rationality. In contrast, postmodernity values deconstruction and alterity, envisioning bureaucratic transformations to respect diversity. Within modernity, "fluidity" accelerated the Holocaust; in postmodernity, "fluidity" represents diversity and inclusivity yet also brings about moral anomie. Fluidity and the resulting uncertainty permeate developments across all disciplinary paradigms. Amid the rise of Generation Z, this phenomenon manifests particularly as "strangeness." Such strangeness can be actively chosen because interactions with strangers significantly reduce the opportunity cost of deeper personal engagement. However, an unavoidable "society of strangers" also introduces new ethical risks. By constructing institutions and value systems founded on trust and responsibility, society can cultivate long-term, genuine recognition of strangers, enabling strangeness to serve rather than constrain human development.

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