FUNDAMENTALISM AND THE CONDITIONS OF POSTMODERNITY Zygmunt Bauman also agrees that the appeal of fundamentalism resides in its offer of certainty in an uncertain world (197). He argues t modernity involved giving up individual freedom for the securities offered by civilisation. Modernity offered order and security but its corollary was the loss of freedom to do as one wished. But the conditions of postmodernity transform the relationship again. While modernity meant order and regulation, in post- modernity deregulation reigns, opening up new possibilities for freedom and the pursuit of pleasure. The individualism and relativism that characterise post modernity create the space for individual freedom and choice. The right of individuals to pursue their desires is now the principle that governs social life. But Bauman argues everything carries a cost and, in this case, the price we pay for freedom is the loss of certainty. For Bauman, postmodern men and women exchanged a portion of their possibilities for security for a portion of happiness' (italics in original (p. 3). Yet the conditions that create this uncomfortable choice also permit its reverse. While the "default' position of post- modernity is freedom, it is still possible to choose security if one is willing to trade it for freedom. This is where the appeal of fundamentalist religion resides.