Modernism

Modernism is a set of ideas about individual and public life that emerged in 17th-century Europe and spread around the world, ideas that clashed with nonscientific traditions, religion, and superstition. Apart from representative events and periods that mark its onset and conclusion, there are no clear dates that define the period of modernism. As early as the Renaissance, which gave way to the Age of Enlightenment, premodern intellectualism was gaining momentum for the thrust toward technological, economic, cultural, and industrial revolutions that would bring advanced societies into the Age of Modernism. The sociologist Anthony Giddens (b. 1938) has described the emergence of the modern era as resulting from the development of the nation-state as well as the rise of industrialism. Within this notion of modernism lies a tenor of belief in (the attainability of) progress, objectivity, rationality, and truth, running through the gradual development of ideas that would provide a foundation for modern societies.

The features within the transition from premodern to modern were well noted within the social sciences. Ferdinand de Tönnies's (1855–1936) analysis of the societal shifts associated with modern life drew out the distinctions between the social groupings known as Gemeinschaft and Gessellschaft. Where the former refers to a community generated by close bonds of affect, the latter describes a society bound by mutual agreements tied to local or national organizational [Page 807]structures. Although Tönnies's ideas have been met with criticism on account of their reductionist character, they nevertheless illustrate a transition from traditional communities to modern societies.

Georg Simmel (1858–1918), a pioneering sociologist, also wrote extensively about the culture that arose out of modernity. In his 1903 essay titled “The Metropolis and Mental Life,” Simmel commented on the ecological effects of large urban settings on the minds of the individuals who inhabit them. Simmel emphasized a culture of individuality that was often mistaken for impolite behavior yet in actuality was more of a self-defense mechanism that sustained one's independence within the harsh environment of modern city life. Although the burgeoning individualism that Simmel described appeared to be an entirely personal phenomenon, he also commented on the broader social constraints of rationalization that contributed to this modern milieu. For Simmel, the modern city had perpetuated a technical rationality that would move toward dismal ends.

Simmel's assessment of modernity was not unlike Max Weber's (1864–1920) bleak outlook of a world confined to unyielding rationalization. Weber criticized the functions of bureaucracies within modernity as institutions organized around hierarchies and goal-oriented operations. Using his famous metaphor, Weber believed that this type of rationality would leave individuals trapped within an “iron cage.”

Criticisms of the modern age would continue through the 20th and 21st centuries, leading to the debate about whether modernity had adapted to the emerging challenges and transformed into something new or ended entirely. The postmodern theorist Jean-Francois Lyotard (1924–1998) certainly recognized a distinctive phenomenon that grew out of the 20th century, characterized by skepticism toward modernity. Lyotard referred to this phenomenon as the “postmodern condition,” which constituted a break with knowledge building and the legitimization of logic found within the grand narratives of modernity.

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