The Modern Social Imaginary

Abstract

The idea of social imaginaries, especially the distinction between social imaginaries and ideologies, will be expanded. A model of how social imaginaries change will then be developed based the idea of residual, dominant and emergent social imaginaries. The Pre-Modern Social Imaginary was based around transcendent time, community and hierarchy. In the 18th Century, a new social imaginary emerged, the Modern Social Imaginary based around a contempocentric view of time, the Nation-State, and humankind as being the centre of reality. This is the dominant social imaginary, the one that explains current perceptions of reality. Central to the Modern Social Imaginary is the idea of progress through the use of reason and control of the environment for humankind’s benefit. The main values of the Modern Social Imaginary will be mapped out.