Modernity Modernization And Globalization

This book has examined some of the pressing issues and challenges related to modernity, modernization, and globalization of the 21st century. The authors of this book are a distinguished group of social scientists from America's academia, many of whom are by-cultural and educationally trained both in the East and the West. The book has used historical and comparative perspectives and many extant sources of primary data. The authors have addressed many macro-issues such as modernity and church-state separation, America's historical role in spreading global modernity, the global expansion of democracy, the rise of a global middle class, the advent of global digital connectivity, and the recent rise of right-wing political parties in the global political landscape. The authors also examined many micro-issues such as modernization and women empowerment in India and Nigeria, the growth of a unique political culture of Islam and modernism in Sierra Leone, the problem of transition to emancipative values in the post-socialist countries of Central and Easter Europe, rise in religious hostilities in South Asia, need for modernization in dealing with minority females in America's criminal justice system, and modernity and the evolution of the rights of the disabled in America. The empirical and country studies largely support the theme of the book that modernity is a cultural and civilizational model. The global modernity has been progressing across world societies for more than two hundred years. It has been particularly remarkably advancing since the second half of the twentieth century. The world capitalist economy has become more global, world democracy has expanded, the global middle class has vastly grown, women's economic and political empowerments have widened, and global digital connectivity has increased. These social and economic transformations are far more fundamental for the future progress of democracy and global modernity. The further spread of global modernity is inevitable and irreversible. The present right-wing ideologies of nativism, localism, nationalism, fundamentalism, and divisiveness in the global political trajectory are transient and temporal peculiarities.

The last decade has witnessed a revival of interest in the problems of modernity and modernization. In particular, three major processes have emerged as objects of debate: " The transformations of capitalism manifested in globalization and the unfolding of post-industrial society " The rapid and strong economic development of countries outside the West " The political and economic transformations in the post-Soviet countries of Eastern Europe

Globalization, Modernity and The City weaves together broad social themes with detailed urban analysis to explore the connections between the rise of big cities, the creation of a global network and the making of the modern world. It explains the growth of big cities, the urban bias of global flows and the creation of metropolitan modernities. The text develops broad theories of the subtle and complex interactions between urbanization, globalization and modernization in a sweep of the urban experience across the modern world. Thematic chapters explore the making of the modern city in profiles of the growth of urban spectaculars, the role of new flanerie, the traffic issues of the modernist city, recurring issues of urban utopias and the rise of the primate city.

Modernity is back on sociology's agenda. From the beginnings of sociology as an academic discipline, questions surrounding the meaning and consequences of modernity have fascinated generations of sociologists. The initial interest in the concept was inspired by a sense of a deep rupture (and crisis) afflicting European society, a sense that society was approaching something fundamentally different from the past, an entirely new form of societal organization that bore little resemblance to anything known before. Where exactly this transformation was headed was by no means clear, but around the 18th century a growing number of European intellectuals and scholars realized that the changes that had been in the making since the late 15th century were irreversible and could not be contained in any particular region or confined to particular sectors of society, but would ultimately transform all spheres of life. Like other thinkers, sociologists observed this transformation with awe, and their attitude towards it has always been ambivalent. The 20th century, during which modernity gradually began to break through globally, was also a century during which many sociologists became increasingly disillusioned with the promises of "the modern project". But with the exhaustion of the energies of "postmodernism", the intellectual movement that wanted to bury modernity, the interest in modernity began to resurface again; not least because it became increasingly clear that the world is far from approaching a societal condition pointing systematically beyond modernity. Instead, we are witnessing an intensification of modernization processes around the world. But what is modernity, anyway? The aim of the present volume is to contribute to the ongoing discussion about the meaning of modernity and about the significance of modernization processes in non-Western societies. As befits a subject matter as controversial and complex at this one, the book's chapters offer no conclusive answers to the questions they raise and address. The debate about modernity must and will continue, and one hopes that it will be conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect despite sometimes fierce disagreement between the participants. For only if we listen to each other can we make genuine intellectual progress.

Praise for the first edition: 'Accomplishes its task to provide readers with a broad multi-disciplinary view on globalization's many impacts on Latin America ... the organization of the collection is logical and thoughtful, and the structural perspectives offered are convincing and powerful. I recommend it to other Latin American social scientists.' Growth and Change 'An impressive, timely and lively volume, which is especially valuable for teaching purposes.' Journal of Latin American Studies 'Authoritatively written by leading scholars in their respective fields.' Area Latin America Transformed, 2nd Edition explains the region's economic, political, social and cultural transformations, its association with globalization and the search for modernity, and contributes to a greater understanding of how these transformations are affecting the people of Latin America. Using a political economy approach to unravel the concepts of globalization and modernity within Latin America, emphasis is placed on interpreting the macro-level structures that frame the transformations taking place. The book also investigates the dynamics of people's livelihoods as they make sense of, rework and live out these structural transformations. The international team of authors involved with the successful first edition have updated their focus and substantially rewritten their material to examine the challenges facing Latin America in the twenty-first century. Three completely new chapters have also been added. Latin America Transformed, 2nd Edition is now even more useful for undergraduate and postgraduate courses that examine economic, political, social and cultural change in Latin America.

This book introduces the concept of global modernity as a paradigm for the analysis of the contemporary era. Building on Parson's distinction between social, cultural, personal and organismic systems, it presents a four-dimensional scheme that aims to identify modernity's key structural components.

"Arranged into four main parts, the book begins by selecting readings from classical theorists in order to review formative ideas on the transition to modern society. It then moves on to address, at length, the modernizationists' discussion of how development changes people and the response from dependency and world-system theorists. A final section assembles eight of the most influential writings on the social effects of globalization."--Jacket.

The processes of modernization and globalization promise more wealth and health for many people. But they are also a threat to the stability and quality of marriage and family life. This new book -- at once sobering and constructive -- looks at the impact of these processes on marriage and asks what Christianity, in cooperation with other religions, can do to strengthen married life today. Among the deleterious effects of modernization and globalization on marriage are a worldwide drift of men away from the responsibility of parenthood and the tendency of mothers too readily to take on the task of childrearing alone. After looking at recent research on these and other problems, Don Browning suggests that the cure for modern marital disruption entails reforming and reconstructing the institution of marriage while also nurturing relevant forms of social support. Yet the effort to initiate a "world marriage revival" requires a complex cultural work, and Browning explores the key contributions that the religions of the world must make for such an effort to be successful.