What is modernity?
Modernity is a broad term that refers to a historical period marked by rapid social, economic, and political change. It began in Western Europe in the 17th century and spread to other parts of the world in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Key characteristics of modernity:
Industrialization: The shift from a predominantly agrarian economy to one based on manufacturing and industry.
Rationalism: The belief that reason is the primary source of knowledge and authority.
Individualism: The emphasis on individual freedom and self-determination.
Epistemological skepticism: The questioning of traditional beliefs and institutions.
Universalism: The belief in the equality and rights of all people.
Nationalism: The identification with and loyalty to a nation-state.
Capitalism: The economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and market exchange.
Sociological theories of modernity:
Functionalism: This theory argues that society is a complex system of interrelated parts that work together to maintain order and stability. Modernization is seen as a natural process of social evolution.
Conflict theory: This theory argues that society is characterized by conflict between different social groups over power and resources. Modernization is seen as a process of social change that benefits the powerful at the expense of the powerless.
Symbolic interactionism: This theory argues that society is created and maintained through the meanings that people attach to symbols and interactions. Modernity is seen as a period of increased reflexivity and self-awareness.
Criticisms of modernity:
The Enlightenment project: The belief that reason and science can solve all of humanity’s problems has been criticized for leading to colonialism, imperialism, and environmental destruction.
The commodification of everything: The tendency to turn everything into a commodity for sale has been criticized for creating a society that is materialistic and devoid of meaning.
The alienation of individuals: Modernity has been criticized for creating a sense of alienation and rootlessness in individuals.
Postmodernity:
Postmodernity is a term used to describe the period that emerged after modernity. It is characterized by a rejection of the Enlightenment ideals of rationality and progress. Postmodernists argue that there is no single, objective truth and that knowledge is always constructed and contested.
Early, Late/Reflexive and Post-modernity
(e.g. Weber, Frankfurt School, Bauman, Beck, Giddens, Latour)
Modernity Definition
- One of the main features of modernity is the generalization of social relations. Relationships are less tied to specific people and situations
- Allows increase growth but also alienation
- And also individualization, which consists in increasing the importance of the individual in society. It is no longer limited by prescribed rules and roles as in traditional society. But this individuality is subordinated by new pressure of the structure of the society.
- And “rationalisation”, which is supposed to provide a managable environment
- (devaluates everything which impossible to exprss by money)
Early-classical-solid modernity
Early modernity, also known as classical modernity or solid modernity, is a term used to describe the period between the 17th and 19th centuries, during which the key socio-economic and political transformations that define modernity emerged in Europe and spread to other parts of the world.
Key characteristics of early modernity:
The rise of capitalism: The shift from a predominantly agrarian economy to one based on manufacturing and industry.
The Enlightenment: A philosophical movement that emphasized reason, science, and individualism.
The nation-state: The emergence of centralized, bureaucratic states that held a monopoly on power.
Industrialization: The rapid development of factories and machinery, which led to urbanization and the growth of cities.
Colonialism: The expansion of European powers into other parts of the world, leading to the exploitation of resources and labor.
Theoretical perspectives on early modernity:
Functionalism: Early modernity is seen as a period of societal modernization and rationalization.
Conflict theory: Early modernity is seen as a period of social inequality and class struggle.
Symbolic interactionism: Early modernity is seen as a period of increased social reflexivity and the construction of individual identities.
Criticisms of early modernity:
The Enlightenment project: The belief that reason and science can solve all of humanity’s problems has been criticized for leading to colonialism, imperialism, and environmental destruction.
The commodification of everything: The tendency to turn everything into a commodity for sale has been criticized for creating a society that is materialistic and devoid of meaning.
The alienation of individuals: Modernity has been criticized for creating a sense of alienation and rootlessness in individuals.
Despite these criticisms, early modernity also produced significant advancements in science, technology, and human rights. It laid the groundwork for a more democratic and equitable society, and it continues to influence our world today.
Late-Reflexive-Liquid Modernity
Late modernity, also known as reflexive modernity or liquid modernity, is a term used to describe the current phase of modernity, characterized by accelerating social, economic, and technological change. It is distinguished from early modernity, also known as classical modernity or solid modernity, which was characterized by the rise of industrialization, urbanization, and the nation-state.
Key characteristics of late modernity:
Globalization: The increasing interconnectedness of societies and cultures across the globe.
Individualization: The decline of traditional social structures and the emphasis on individual autonomy and choice.
Risk society: The increasing uncertainty and risk associated with modern life.
Reflexivity: The ability of individuals to reflect on and critique their own actions and social structures.
Postmodernism: The questioning of traditional norms and values, and the emphasis on diversity and fragmentation.
Theorists of late modernity:
Anthony Giddens: Giddens argues that late modernity is characterized by the “reflexive project of the self,” in which individuals are increasingly responsible for shaping their own identities and life trajectories.
Zygmunt Bauman: Bauman describes late modernity as “liquid modernity,” characterized by fluidity,uncertainty, and the constant reinvention of oneself. POSTMODERNIST
Ulrich Beck: Beck argues that late modernity is a “risk society” in which individuals are increasingly exposed to risks that are not easily controllable or predictable.
Criticisms of late modernity:
The commodification of everything: The tendency to commodify all aspects of life, leading to a sense of alienation and a loss of meaning.
The erosion of community: The decline of traditional social bonds and the increasing isolation of individuals.
The rise of anxiety and insecurity: The increasing uncertainty and risk associated with modern life.
Despite these criticisms, late modernity also offers opportunities for personal growth and transformation.Individuals in late modernity have the freedom to choose their own paths and identities, and to challenge traditional norms and values. However, this freedom also comes with the responsibility to make choices and to navigate the complexities of a rapidly changing world.
Postmodernity
Postmodernity is a broad term that refers to a period following modernity. It is characterized by a skepticism towards metanarratives, a questioning of traditional hierarchies and structures, and a focus on diversity and fragmentation.
Key characteristics of postmodernity:
Rejection of grand narratives: Postmodernism rejects the idea of universal truths and overarching explanations of reality. Instead, it emphasizes the plurality of perspectives and the multiplicity of truths.
Critique of traditional hierarchies and structures: Postmodernism challenges traditional hierarchies of power,such as those based on class, gender, and race. It advocates for a more fluid and equitable social order.
Focus on diversity and fragmentation: Postmodernism recognizes and celebrates the diversity of cultures,identities, and experiences. It rejects the idea of a unified, homogenous society.
Emphasis on self-reflexivity and irony: Postmodernism encourages individuals to be self-reflexive and to question their own beliefs and assumptions. It also embraces irony and playfulness in its approach to knowledge and representation.
Theorists of postmodernity:
Jean-François Lyotard: Lyotard argued that postmodernity is characterized by the “incredulity towards metanarratives,” meaning a distrust of grand narratives that claim to provide universal truths.
Michel Foucault: Foucault analyzed the power structures that shape society and argued that knowledge is always embedded in power relations.
Judith Butler: Butler explored the social construction of gender and argued that identities are not fixed but are constantly performed and negotiated.
Criticisms of postmodernity:
Subjectivism and relativism: Postmodernism’s emphasis on individual interpretation and the rejection of universal truths can lead to subjectivism and relativism.
Loss of meaning and coherence: The fragmentation and plurality of postmodern thought can lead to a sense of fragmentation and loss of meaning.
Reification of consumer culture: Postmodernism’s celebration of diversity and fragmentation can be seen as a justification for consumer culture and the commodification of everything.
Despite these criticisms, postmodernism also offers opportunities for new ways of thinking and being. It encourages individuals to question authority, challenge assumptions, and embrace diversity. It also provides a framework for understanding the complexities of contemporary society.
- His view on modernity is defined by the term ANOMIE
- This condition accompanies an uprooting or breakdown of any moral values, standards or guidance for individuals to follow
- Modernity also distorted the social order which results in existencial insecurity in individuals.
- Traditional society was based on “mechanic solidarity” which was connected with their survival.
- Modern society creates “organic society” which is connected with the concept of “division of labour” and inter-dependency all memebers of the society.
- Weber believed that rationalization is an attempt to create effective organisation of social and economical life
- He depicted a risk in interference of bureaucracy to all aspects of life
- He also articulated a result of bureaucracy as alienation and monetarization of relationships between (among) people.
- He also predicted “instrumentalist logic” when a calculation of a profit is preferred before an ethic content of a goal.
- The part of his perception of modernity is also infiltration of science to all the areas of life which results into “disentchantment”
- The change from “charismatic” authority to “rational-legal” authority he describes as inevitable. Charismatic or traditional leadership is always interrupted by death of the leader, which can create insecurity and worse stability.
- Capitalism (as a part of modernity) arose from the connection of two phenomena of “bureaucratization” and “rationalization”
Both lead to the development of the market economy and the labor market and banking
and all-pervading contractual relations and bureaucratic management in the economic sphere - His attention was focused on protestant ethic which is the foundation of capitalism
- The most important are “ideas” in calvinism
- They emphasies ascetism and labour as a legitimate sign of right belief
- Accumulation of capital and re-investment to the enterprise is supported by this religion
Frankfurt school
Max Horkheimer – Theodor Adorno
Critical Theory
- The main content of their theory is criticism of the phenomenon of power connected with rationality and “enlightenment” – which is described by rationalism, logic and humanity
- They criticise the contemporary society and the cultural industry
- If the freedom in society should be kept then the “enlightened sense” is needed but also rational knowledge must be observed in a reflexive way and be aware of the danger.
- If this check is not done, there is a risk that “enlighented sense” will change to despotic ideology
- The original goal of “enlightenement” was to release people from fear and make them masters on themselves and also disenchant the world from myths, that it would replace with knowledge.
- The result is that knowledge has become power, which should stop to bow to nature but dominate (tame) it.
- “Enlightenment” is a radicalized mythical fear that we resist by living that we want to classify everything positivistically using characters and definitions.
- It creates non-living of living and becoming “totalitarian ideology”
- Today, the individual is only an element in a system that can be rationally managed
- The individual is run first by the school, then by the media – a person is told what is of what value and what he should want.
- People lose the ability of the imagination – everything is explained to them by science
- People have become a controlled mass which the “enlightment manor” scientifically explains reality
- For example: lawlessness is sanctified by hard facts
- Individuality and also a free will of the individual is lost
- The cultural industry contributes to all this
- Cinema or radio are not art today
- They are economic forces that impart needs to people so that they appear to be needs of their own
Herbert Marcuse
- Modern industrial society defines itself by rationality but according to Marcuse is completely irrational.
- Spiritual and material development of the society is not used to free development of individuals and their personal growth. It is used to domination over individuals.
- The main instrument is not terror anymore but technology.
The economic base has become the basis of the integrated system, it determines the product and how it is operated. The production apparatus becomes total in that it dictates not only social needs, but also individual wishes and needs. The technique is no longer neutral. Its construction predetermines the character of the estate. It penetrates into the language, action, spiritual and material culture of society.
- A non-free democracy, forced by technical development, can satisfy individual needs with its internal organization.
- It then reduces any opposition to a quick discussion and incorporates each alternative into the status quo
- Marcuse divides needs to “real” and “false”
- The false needs don’t come from the internal world of individuals but they are dictated by the societal forces that need to supress the individual.
- Filling these needs invokes euphoria in “bad luck”
- The real needs he does not dare to name. He says that no-one can. All individuals are deep inside in their instincts indoctrinated and manipulated, that no-one is entitled to articulate them.
- Mass consumer society
- The system of production and distribution manipulates individual needs through interests. The emergence of real individual thinking is hindered by society as a whole. This repression takes the form of inoculating the false needs of the individual, and their power lies in “perpetuating outdated forms” of struggle for survival.
- Repressiveness transforms freedom into a tool of control.
- The so-called free choice in the variety of goods and services does not mean according to Marcuse freedom. These things maintain control over the effort and fear, they maintain alienation.
- They also maintain the illusion of leveling out class differences but in reality it is only a cultural unification dictated by the mass media.
- Individuals were stolen from existence and inserted into the artificial existence of things. Now the artificial existence absorbs the individual.
The capitalists are losing the “masters identity” and taking on the role of bureaucrats. The frustration of the worker loses his tangible goal (class enemy) which is hidden behind the veil of technology. The worker remains a slave. Marcus derives the definition of slavery from the degree of degradation of the individual into an instrument. Even lords are slaves. They are also dependent on the system.
- They find themselves in the new artificial existence and they also identify with it and feel free in it.
- It is a new form of alienation
- The individuals are not mentally able to formulate an accusation of reality by their occupied critical mind.
- Hence the so-called end of ideologies.
- He is a post-modern thinker
- The society does not believe in big projects, it lives its triffle sequence events
- The disbelief emerges after collapse of socialism
- He defines the main differences between personal types occuring today and in the previous types of society
- Post-modern time brings insecurity and dissatisfaction with myself, the ancestors were proud of their consistency and contemporary man is eroded
Types of travellers:
- Watcher – lives on watching others
- Tramp – travels with a goal “to travel”
- Tourist – travels with a goal collecting experiences
- Player – this person perceives life as a game where the better one wins
What keeps the tramp moving? He is attracted by an unfulfilled desire. the monotony of the wanderer is the unplanned effect of a passionate, continual pursuit of change. None of the stops meets expectations, none can replace the tempting promises of other, as yet untested pastures. The Wanderer’s Route is a large graveyard of hope, covered with tombstones of disillusionment and disappointment. The tramp always knows well what he is running away from. But only vaguely and vaguely does he know what he is in a hurry for.
- The individual is a collector of experience
- Body belongs only to its owner
- A traditional body was strong in order to work for society
- Lifestyle of supplier – oriented externally
- What is possible to change outside
- Lifestyle of customer – oriented internally
- What can I experience more?
- There is an ambiguity of feelings – the body does not serve to anyone else.
Liquid modernity
- Characteristics of liquid modernity is lightness and mobility
- The capital and power are divided from the space. Power became independent on place.
- Time has become an instrument to conquer the space in the globalized world
- The result is that nomadic habits are coming back
- Living mobile is advantageous than settle down.
- Symptom of the recent time is instant everything, circulation and consumption of things for one use.
- Risk society – Theory of reflexive modernity
- Beck does not agree that development of society is going forward continuously.
- He does not agree that the modernity is being replaced by post-modernity
- He claims that reflexive modernity or risk society is coming instead of modernity
- He talks about problems of environment, radioactivity, diminishing of forests, dangerous gases in atmosphere ap.
- People produced risks in the past as well but these questions were always defeated by intentions of survival.
- Now is the time when the society should think about the results of its activities. Risks have global character. They affects all the countries without difference.
- Need is hierarchical but smog is democratic – affects everyone.
- The problem with definition and legitimation of risks occures – the society needs to receive the information where is the problem, what is the reason and how risky it can possibly be
- There is also a clash about the definition with legitimization of risks. There are different interests which creates a confilict between companies, politics, media or individuals
- We live in a radicalised modernity era (no in the post-modern society)
- He endorses the term “reflexive modernistion” as a more accurate description of the processes
- Giddens concentrates on a contrast between traditional (pre-modern) and post-traditional (modern) culture
- n traditional societies, the choices of action were already determined (by customs etc)
- In contast, in post-traditional society people are much less concerned with the precedents set by earlier generations.
- People have more choices. However, this means that individual actions now require more analysis and thought before they are taken
- Society is more reflexive
- We are disembedded from time and space. Our social space is not confined by the boundaries of a specific area. In this regard he talks about virtual time and space
- Another distinctive property lies in the field of knowledge. Now, we have to rely on expert systems. These are not present in time and space but we must trust them
- Even if we trust them, we know that something could go wrong as there is always a risk we have to take.
- The propulsive engine of action in old societies was an effort to survive
- Sociologists questioned fair division of properties and also providing sustainable conditions for living
- Material deprivation no longer affects the majority of the population
- The society and also sociology is forced to pay attention to decrease and diversificate risks
- These risks are results of industrialization, provided abundance but it produces more risks than profits today
- Modernity took itself as modern because it started two praxis
- Purging
- Thriving
- There are two ontological zones which consist of human and non-human actors
- He suggests to study the society as anthropologists do
- His theory builds non-reducable complexity of non-modern world where are important both actors: human and also non-human
- He propones symetrical anthropology.
- It can never investigate the society separately of nature.