Modernity

Modernity as Historical Period

There is little agreement about the precise temporal boundaries of modernity, but its roots lay in the Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries and its development is linked to the rise of industrial capitalism in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. During this time, European societies witnessed a series of important political and economic transformations that are generally associated with the modern era, including the expansion of capitalist markets and the progressive development of a system of factory production coupled later with mass consumption; the growing importance of salaried employment and an increasingly sophisticated division of labor; a significant increase in urbanization and the growth of a cosmopolitan urban citizenry, spurred by the evolution of widespread literacy; the development of specialized forms of knowledge and expertise, including the familiar practices of governance, civil service, and planning and design; and, following the French and American Revolutions, the establishment of the modern state system, founded on principles of territorial sovereignty and some form of electoral democracy.

These social and institutional transformations culminated in the form of society that characterized Western Europe and North America from the late 19th century through the 20th century. Although this particular view of modernity emerged in a specific time and place, it has nevertheless been held up by many as a more or less universal model to be emulated by societies around the world. Thus, those parts of the world labeled as traditional societies have been encouraged to foster development through the adoption of Western-style political and economic institutions, a process generally referred to as modernization.

Modernity as Ethos

Many invocations of modernity refer not only to a series of events or a historical era but also, more broadly, to the form of consciousness or type of experience typical of that era. That is, modernity can be understood in part as a distinctive ethos or sensibility, the roots of which can be traced to the social and cultural transformations of the European Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries. Chief among these changes was a decline in the importance of religious dogma and superstition in favor of a worldview that placed human subjects at the center of their own destiny. Thus, the culture of modernity is characterized by a growing belief in the power of reason, rationality, and truth as well as a faith in the ability of science and technology to harness the powers of humans and nature for the betterment of society.

Another defining feature of modern consciousness is a particular awareness of time and history. Indeed, as derived from the Latin modernus, to be modern means to be living “in one's own time” as opposed to the past. It has since evolved to describe a sense of being cognizant of one's place within the movement of history and of continually progressing to overcome the limitations of the past. In a broader sense, then, the ethos of modernity entails a sense of looking toward the future and of embracing—even celebrating—the flux of restless change that is the hallmark of modern society.

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