Modernity

and

Modernization

‘Modernization’

refers to the transition from

a traditional, rural, agrarian society to a

secular, urban, industrial society.

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 PROGRESS and REVOLUTIONS

Agricultural (Neolithic) Revolution (approx. Hunters-gatherers replaced by settled

9500 BC) agriculture.

Urban Revolution (4th-3rd thousands BC) The emergence of cities.

Complex hierarchical systems of
manufacturing and trade.
Ex: Metal-workers become full-time specialists

Industrial Revolution (18-19th centuries) Artisanal production replaced by complex,

mass production, rise of capitalism.
Expansion of urbanity.

Modernization includes

industrialization

urbanization

the application of science and technology (machinery with advanced sources of
energy)

Revolution in:
- transportation (railways, steamships)
- urban landscape (factories, skyscrapers)
- daily life with electricity
- communication (telegraph, telephone, radio, television)

occupational specialization

rising bureaucratization

rising educational levels

increasing life standards and life expectancy

rapid population growth

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Karl Marx (1818 – 1883)

Class struggle

Capitalism – Industrial revolution

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

The Division of Labor in Society, 1893.

What keeps society together?

SOLIDARITY

1) Mechancial solidarity
2) Organic solidarity

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 Mechanical solidarity Organic solidarity

• preindustrial societies • modern society

• primary groups • secondary groups

• little or no division of labor: • greater division of labor:

- undifferentiated social structure - differentiated social structure

- people occupy general positions - specialized tasks and responsibilities

•homogeneity •heterogeneity

•social bonds based on common •the loosening of the common

morality morality
(anomie: from Gr. anomia, “lawlessness”
the disintegration of binding social norms.)

• tradition and religion as the cement •division of labor as the source of

of society social cohesion.

Ferdinand Tönnies (1855-1936)

Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft, 1887

Gemeinschaft Gessellschaft

• preindustrial • modern

• Community • Society

• Family or Neighborhood • Individualism

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 Max Weber (1864-1920)

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit

of Capitalism, 1905.

Economy and Society, 1914.

Politics as Vocation, 1918.

Rationalization

Considerations of efficiency or calculation replace

motivations derived from custom, tradition, or emotion.

• DISENCHANTMENT of the world : Sweeping away of

sentimental ties to the past as scientific thinking and
technology advances.

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 Bureaucracy
Max Weber, “Bureaucracy,” in Classical Sociological
Theory, Craig Calhoun et al. (eds)

Definition of “bureaucracy”: the means to transform social action into

rationally organized action
Or:
a form of rational organization and management

Characteristics of “bureaucracy”:

1. explicit rules and regulations

2. hierarchy of authority
3. specialization by office (division of labor and reliance on technical
expertise )
4. Impersonality: norm of impersonal impartiality (you are a number)
5. separation of administration from ownership

What is the main dynamics of

modernization?

• Durkheim: Transition to organic solidarity

• Marx: Class struggle and capitalism

• Weber: Rationalization

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 Michel Foucault and Panopticon

• The Panopticon was a metaphor that allowed

Foucault to explore the relationship between
systems of social control and people in a
disciplinary situation,
• The power comes from the knowledge the
observer has accumulated from his observations
of actions in a circular fashion, with knowledge
and power reinforcing each other.
• Power-knowledge comes from observing others.

Panopticon,
prison designed by Jeremy Bentham in 1785

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