What Is Modernity and Why Have Sociologists Been so Interested in It - Essay Example

What is “modernity” and why have sociologists been so Interested in it? Author’s Name Course Instructor’s Name Date What is “modernity” and why have sociologists been so Interested in it? For many generations, modernity has been the question of concern among the socialists. The history of modernity can be traced back to the 17th century and the beginning of a revolutionary era of Enlightenment. In order to illuminate the importance for a comprehensive study of the social part of life by socialist, this study will identify and explore the essential characteristics of modernity. The period of Enlightenment or rather the shift to “modernity” was a landmark age which led to historical changes such as the transformation of primary and secondary social institutions in Europe. This paper will also give the definitions of modernity from sociological perspectives of the pioneers of sociology, Durkheim and Marx, in order to demonstrate why modernity compelled and continues to compel, sociological investigations. There have been several attempts, specifically in the area of sociology, to comprehend the meaning of modernity and its characteristics. A wide array of terms are used to give a vivid description of the society, driving force, social life, symptomatic mentality as well as other aspects that define modernity. Some common elements that define modernity include: “The existence impersonal bureaucracies such as social hierarchies are marked by distinct practices such as division of labour and other practices that follow regular procedures.”1 Modernity is reflected by rationalization whereby people can understand and manage the world through reasonable systems of theories and data. The alienation process is a common feature as well. Individuals are isolated from the systems of meaning like religion, families and meaningful work. “Moreover, modernity results into commoditization, a process where almost all aspects of everyday life are converted to objects with monetary value for exchange as well as consumption purposes.”2 There is also a massive growth of societies with a common uniting factor, the mass media. Under such societies, there is a high rate of dissemination of cultural and social practices, unlike regional and local culture particulars. Lastly, there is the prevalence of therapeutic motivations. This is a state where human self is understood as a product of the desires of evolution, and that the human self should be helped in attaining those desires, as opposed to pursuit of public importance or ethical improvement projects. In simple terms, modernity refers to a process in which the society progresses from primitive civilizations, characterised by steady evolution through distinct steps, and eventual arrival at modern state which is characterized by capitalism and globalization, ending in the present, post-modern condition of globalization which moulds the contemporary society with increasing momentum. It means struggling against determinism instead of revelling in it as part of preordained plan. “Due to romanticism and industrialization that emerged in reaction, the general human quality was no longer the point of interest among individual. Rather, the irreplaceability and qualitative uniqueness became the norm.”3 “Modernity is characterized by a realization of democracy which is demanded by free-thinking citizens. The period of Enlightenment which was experienced in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries led to exceptional changes in the way people perceived or thought about the universe, hence the emergence of extensive civil unrest.”4 That was an historical period for the European intellectual history since the great philosophers like Isaac Newton and Immanuel Kant were to encourage the population to embrace ideas that would lead to profound consequences for civilization. Certainly, much the impact of the innovative ideas, scientific as well as the technological progress can be attributed to the contemporary society. The foundations of such progress were established during the period of Enlightenment. However, the period was accompanied by unparalleled riots and brutal revolutions that led to a lot of suffering and deaths amongst the population that would eventually secure the hostile transition from tradition society to modern society. It would be worthy to explore how societies progressed continuously to the modern society. Many changes have taken place in the lives of people in modern society, more so those living in towns and cities. In his book The Metropolis and Mental Life, Georg Simmer gives a comprehensive overview of the things that happen to people living in cities. He also explains how such happenings relate to individual resistance to being levelled and eventually swallowed up in the mechanism of social-technology. He termed this form of ontological insecurity as a form of modern struggle which is the most difficult of all struggles of modern life. The metropolitan reacts to modernity and its challenges in a rational way rather than emotional way. “This creates a mental predominance as a result of the intensification of consciousness. In other words, the city people react to the challenges of modernity with their heads rather than their hearts, implying they do not involve the depths of their personalities.”5 Basically, this means that the conditions of life in the city after the modernity hinder the development of simple (customary) ways of living. “Throughout history, five types of societies existed. Until about 12000 years ago, human beings lived in societies which hunted and gathered for survival.”6 The type of technology used to hunt was very simple or rather basic. In other words, this kind of life was basically a subsistence living. The societies were based on kinship system of leadership and the family was tasked with gathering and distribution of food, provision of education and the essential skills for survival to their children. The foundations of family were based on the common belief, affection bonds and traditional values. Hunting and gathering forms of civilization advanced into pastoral and horticultural societies. Employment of sophisticated hand tools was a characteristic feature of this society while food production increased significantly due to domestication of animals. Every area of social life was transformed by the emergence of new scientific advances brought about by the agrarian revolution. The next was the industrial society which is relatively a modern age. During this age, civilization developed at an unexpected rate. The birth of mills and factories powered by steam and sophisticated machinery emerged. The traditional values were lost due unparalleled shift in the lives of families. The overall impact is that the family lost its status of being a unit of production. “Urbanisation was rampant leading to the rise of larger towns and cities and gradual abolition of rural villages and the once established traditional communities.”7 From a sociological point of view, industrialism is seen to have resulted into new “risk” to the society. For instance, the dangers caused by global warming and pollutions, alongside the devastating impacts of nuclear age, warrants the keen study of the lasting ramifications of modernity by sociologists. “City life is a ‘violent stimuli’ which develops a kind of urban ‘intellectualistic character’.”8 Simmel compares it with the life of a small-town which rests more on emotional relationships and feelings. People living in big cities must be ready to adapt to the ever changing circumstances so that their emotions and feelings do not get engaged like those of people living in conservative settings. The final form of society that exists is the post-industrial society. “This is the information-based society which exists today. It is taken over by computer- linked technologies- a globalization age.”9 Modernity had already pushed us into an era of globalization through the interconnectedness of several societies during the dawn of the new millennium. Therefore, this overview of progressive civilization shows the society as an entity which is ever-changing and growing with the potential of shaping the lives of people living within it from one generation to another. It also illustrates why modernity is and will remain an important area of study that was thoroughly explored by the ancient classical sociological thinkers. According to Durkheim, observable social facts form the basis of sociology as the discipline of study. His idea of social solidarity is resulted from the observations he made on people in regard to commitment to share values which were influenced by modernity. On the other hand, Karl Marx was concerned with the adverse impacts pf modernity, with particular opposition against the social stratification and the economic supremacy of the capitalists. The differed greatly in their view of modernity in that Durkheim saw the division of labour as a cohesive way of organic solidarity while Marx viewed it as a means of alienating the workforce. Marx’s personal experience of initial stages of industrial revolution influenced his writing. He strongly believed that one has to understand history before writing history. The genesis of poverty, alienation for the working population into distinct social classes as well as merciless oppression and exploitation by modern society’s bourgeoisie is urbanisation and industrialization. Marx conceived that the industrialised society in capitalist, the economic system founded the infrastructure of the society. Other social institutions that are crucial to the society are built and governed by the economic system. Certainly, the current volatility of capitalist markets as envisaged by Marx, has seen its effects spread globally, hence highlighting the need for sociological investigation. Thus, Durkheim and Marx concentrated on the effects of modernity in restructuring the lives of people, illustrating why sociology emerged in history and the reasons why the sociologists are obliged to engage its deeper study. “Although Durkheim and Marx offer equally insightful and compelling theories about modernity and its effects from different perspectives, their theories are of great relevance to modern- day sociologists.”10 Moreover, the persistence of sociological inquiry must prevail if life chances of vulnerable groups like the poor, women and ethnic minorities are to be improved. With modernity, democracy must be preserved. This is necessary because the findings of sociological inquiry will uncover the historical cultural and social injustices such as discrimination, inequality and racism which might have made their ways into the modern society. Having explained the features of modernity and why it necessitates keen study by sociologists, it is worthwhile to explore the linked aspects of social and individual life. “Since the society is evidently evolving, the sociologists from all schools of thought are evidently passionate to study the evolving or rather the progressive society surrounding them since the Enlightenment paved way for historical changes to the lives of individuals at the dawn of modernity. “From one angle, modernity is made infinitely easy such that the interests, simulations and attention and time taking are evident from all sides thereby necessitating individual efforts to endure. But from another perspective, modernity is composed of impersonal social and cultural elements as well as existing values which aims at suppressing peculiar interest and inequalities within the modern society.”11 Just as their predecessors, the modern sociologists are obliged to continue examining modernity as well as the post-modernity in order to interpret accurately and fully appreciate the social phenomena. This will help them get an insight and a projected degree of certainty of the future of civilization. In summary, the distinct feature of modernity is its comparison with modern to pre-modern and post-modern societies. The understanding of non-modern social status is far from settled issues, hence the need for study by the sociologists. The opposing forces like subjectivism and objectivism, nationalism and individualism, totalitarianism and democratization are accredited to the emergence of modernity. From social structural perspective, many of the mentioned characteristics which define modernity resulted from the transition from communities that were relatively isolated to large-scale societies that were more integrated. To some degree, doubting the possibility of a descriptive approach can capture the variations of realities of modern societies at different historical contexts. Although the ideologies of the founding fathers of sociology differed at some point, their interpretations of modernity serve as a basis for critical study for the modern-day sociologists. The fact that society is in a constant evolution means that new changes are experience in the way things are done by individuals. This is because modernity involves introduction of new cultural practices thereby necessitating the interests by the sociologist to acquire more knowledge of modernity through historical study of modernity. Modernization can be understood as an abstract process which can be linked to various parts of histories and not a specific or unique event that took place in one part of the world. Bibliography Adams, Julia, Elisabeth Stephanie Clemens, and Ann Shola Orloff. 2005. Remaking modernity: politics, history, and sociology. Durham: Duke University Press. Dennis, Richard. 2008. Cities in modernity: representations and productions of metropolitan space, 1840-1930. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ferguson, Harvie. 2000. Modernity and subjectivity: body, soul, spirit. Charlottesville: Univ. Press of Virginia. Georg Simmel, 2005 ‘The Metropolis and Mental Life’, in Jan Lin and Christopher Mele (eds): Urban Sociology Reader. pp. 23-31 .New York. Giddens, Anthony. 1991. The consequences of modernity. Cambridge [U.K.]: Polity Press. http://www.aspresolver.com/aspresolver.asp?SOTH;S10023877. Kolb, David. 1986. The critique of pure modernity: Hegel, Heidegger, and after. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lefebvre, Henri. 1995. Introduction to modernity: twelve preludes, September 1959-May 1961. London: Verso. Morley, Neville. 2009. Antiquity and modernity. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10301269. Schmidt, Rachel Lynn. 2011. Forms of modernity: Don Quixote and modern theories of the novel. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Simmel, G, Anthony J., Blasi, Anton K., Jacobs, & Mathew J., 2009. Sociology: inquiries into the construction of social forms. Leiden: Brill. Takeuchi, Yoshimi, and Richard Calichman. 2005. What is modernity? Writings of Takeuchi Yoshimi. New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10183451. Read More