In this volume, one of a number with the ‘Liquid’ tag, Bauman analyzes how uncertainty and anxiety have come to define the condition of life in the world. In this situation, people are charged with responding flexibly, immediately, and actively to anticipate the unanticipated and unpredictable shifts in daily reality, a demand that comes with enormous pressures and takes a psychic toll. See in particular Bauman’s analysis of the fate of Utopia under these conditions in chapter 5 ‘Utopia in the Age of Uncertainty.’