Imaginaries of modernity : politics, cultures, tensions

Bibliographic Information

Imaginaries of modernity : politics, cultures, tensions

John Rundell

(Routledge studies in social and political thought)

Routledge, 2020, c2017

  • : pbk

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Note

"First published 2017 by Routledge. First issued in paperback 2020"--T.p. verso

Includes bibliographical references (p. [274]-295) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

This book offers a new perspective on the issue of modernity through a series of interconnected essays. Drawing centrally on the works of Castoriadis, Luhmann, Heller and Lefort, and in critical discussion with Weber, Durkheim, Simmel, Adorno, Habermas and Taylor, the author argues that modernity is not only a unique historical creation but also a multiple one. With a focus on five broad themes - the problem of understanding of modernity after the decline of grand narratives; the complexity of the modern condition; politics, especially with reference to freedom and totalitarian regimes; the variety and density of modern life; and the centrality of a concept of culture to social and critical theory - John Rundell advances the view that modernity is not the outcome of an evolutionary process or historical development, but is unique and indeterminate, as are the constitutive dimensions that can be identified as 'modern'. There are, then, different modernities. A rigorous engagement with a range of prominent and contemporary social theorists, Imaginaries of Modernity casts new light on the significance of understanding the multidimensional character of modernity and the plurality of its forms beyond the conventional paradigms associated with only the West. As such, it will appeal to scholars of social theory, critical theory, sociology and philosophy concerned with questions of culture, politics and modernity.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Modernity is Out of Joint Page Part 1: Tensions of Modernity 1. From Communicative Modernity to Tensions of Modernity Page 2. Modernity, Contingency, Dissonance Page 3. The City and Fear: Citizens, Strangers, Outsiders Page Part 2: Political modernities 4. Durkheim and the Reflexive Condition of Modernity Page 5. Democratic Revolutions, Power and The City Page 6. Autonomy, Oligarchy, Statesman: Weber, Castoriadis and the Fragility of Politics Page 7. Power, Politics and its Closure - On the Work of Claude Lefort Page 8. Tensions of Citizenship in the Age of Diversity Page 9. From Indigenous Civilisation to Indigenous Modernities Page 10. Intersections and Tensions Between Civilisations and Modernities: The Case of Oman Page 11. Cosmopolitanism as an Open Universal Page Part 3: In Search of Transcendence 12. Multiple Modernities, Sacredness and the Democratic Imaginary: Religion as a Stand-in Category Page 13. In search of transcendence: Charles Taylor's Critique of Secularisation Page 14. Modernity, Love and Imagination Page 15. Musicality and modernity: Music as a Space of Possibilities Page

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