Theory Of Multiple Modernities Research Articles

Anthony Giddens and civilizational analysis: modernity between reflexivity and culture

Based on the critical reconstruction of the diagnosis of modernity by A. Giddens, the article traces the logic of the transition from the institutional to the civilizational approach in the sociological discourse of “modernity”. The analysis focuses on the problem of the relationship between culture and reflexivity. In Giddens’ theory of radical modernity, reflexivity is opposed to culture, which is identified with tradition. According to the theory of multiple modernities that are genetically related to the sociological paradigm of civilizational analysis, tradition and reflexivity are correlated as two aspects of culture characterized by aspirations, on the one hand, to the reproduction of interpretive foundations that set a general context of meaning, and, on the other, to trans-contextual breakthroughs that open up new horizons of meaning. Both tendencies are in irreparable tension between themselves and are mediated in the capacity of culture to rationalization, during which the self-articulation of culture turns into its self-problematization. The combination of rationality with reflexivity leads to cultural innovation and interpretative shifts and, at least, potentially to new cultural crystallizations, allowing higher levels of self-problematization (J. P. Arnason). In different cultural and historical patterns, the ability to rationalize receives an uneven and specific development. Modernity is a “distinct civilization” (S. N. Eisenstadt), in which the tendencies of culture towards self-articulation in conflicting directions and towards self-problematization reach a level unprecedented in human history, giving rise to multiple configurations of social life intertwined with relatively autonomous dynamics of power and wealth. Although Giddens did not make a “civilizational turn” in his work, his institutional analysis of modernity closed with his formulating the problem of conjugation of culture and power, which is key for the civilizational approach in sociology. However, the same problematic also marked the limit of understanding modernity in Giddens’ theory; he recognized the incomprehensibility of the social world in which reflexivity was institutionalized. His further path was a one of utopian modeling and political implementation of the future post-modern world, rather than a one of scientific analysis of modernity.

Судьба «традиции» в современном мире: сравнительный анализ концепций Э. Хобсбаума и Ш. Эйзенштадта

The conflicting assessments of the nature and role of traditions in the modern world stem in part from differences in the use of the term; the specific phenomena that are the focus of each perspective differ in some important respects. This opens up the possibility that seemingly contradictory conclusions about the role of traditions in contemporary societies can be reconciled. The article discusses the role and influence of traditions for the analysis of the modern socio-cultural situation from the point of view of two approaches: the concept of invented tradition by Eric Hobsbawm and the concept of multiple modernities by Shmuel Eisenstadt. The purpose of the article is to give a comparative analysis of the two approaches to tradition, showing that modernity is not a culturally neutral, universal socio-cultural product, but is formed under the influence of many traditions. Based on the method of comparative analysis, it was revealed that the concept of multiple modernities by Shmuel Eisenstadt, as well as the concept of invented tradition by Eric Hobsbawm, contradict the view of the classical theory of modernization on modernity as a break with tradition. At the same time, the meaning that Eisenstadt attaches to tradition differs markedly from that proposed by E. Hobsbawm. It is concluded that from the point of view of the theory of multiple modernities, the invention of new traditions in modernity is better understood as a process of transformation, and that the reconstruction of a tradition is not the same as invention. In both cases, both for the transformation and reconstruction of the tradition, the sociocultural context is important.

Post-secular Culture in the Light of Multiple Modernities Theory by S. Eisenstadt (Taking Account of Transhumanism Influence)

Post-secular Culture in the Light of Multiple Modernities Theory by S. Eisenstadt (Taking Account of Transhumanism Influence)

Political Posters, the Soviet Enlightenment and the Construction of a Learning Society, 1917-1928

This paper explores the construction of a Soviet learning society represented in Soviet political posters during the first decade after the 1917 Socialist Revolution. The theoretical framework is based on studies of learning societies, lifelong education and learning, Soviet education, and the theory of multiple modernities. We employed a post-structuralist discourse analysis that allowed us to explore verbal and non-verbal poster elements to identify key domains in the construction of the Soviet learning society. Our study identified six main discursive visual and textual messages in political posters as educational devices in the development of the Socialist learning state. Findings show that learning was embedded in broader social, political, economic and cultural practices and took multiple forms. Political posters served multiple functions: they were motivators for learning, learning devices, means to communicate the Soviet party-state agenda, and part of the social-political and cultural curriculum of the learning society to come.

Towards a Model of Muslim Women’s Management Empowerment: Philosophical and Historical Evidence and Critical Approaches

This paper constructs a culturally appropriate model for Muslim women’s empowerment in management and leadership positions that addresses sustainability goals of quality education, gender equality, economic growth and reducing inequalities, as well as national and cultural differences from Western women’s empowerment models. The approach to model building begins with two sources of evidence for women’s empowerment—first, the empowerment of women recognised in the Qur’an and Sunnah, and in the historical-biographical record, particularly in the early Islamic period that draws to some extent on hermeneutics. This is followed by identifying four approaches that can be used in constructing a comprehensive model of Muslim women’s empowerment: Bourdieu’s social, cultural and intellectual capital theory; multiple modernities theory that recognises societal diversity; cultural security arguments for the preservation of cultures; and postcolonial critiques that argue for diversity through decolonising. The main argument of this paper is that sustainability goals cannot be achieved without a model appropriate to the valuational, cultural and societal context in which women are educated and work. The final section of this paper proposes a multidimensional and multilevel model that can be used as a guidance for empowering Muslim women in management and leadership positions. The model construction is based partly on Côté and Levine’s psychosocial cultural model that identifies multiple levels and dimensions of identity, role and social institution construction. This article contributes to the current literature by proposing a theoretical foundation and a multidimensional model that can inform and shape the empowerment of Muslim women in management and leadership positions in different societies.

Russian Society's Civilizational Transit

This paper deals with the issue of specific civilizational process formation in Russia as a new figuration and configuration of the forms of modernity. It is argued that explanations of the dynamics of Russian society are often based on the idea of predestination of the trajectory of its development (path dependency) that is caused either by the universal logic of modernization and globalization or by persistence of the basic cultural program or matrix which is reproduced in social practices. A civilizational transit of Russian society phenomena is discussed within multiple modernities theory as a new perspective that allows overcoming some of the problems with the predominant approaches to Russian modernization. Civilizational approaches to analyses of Russian culture, politics and society have been associated mostly with theories of ‘historical cycles’ worked out in late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. More recently a considerable attention has been devoted to different versions of ‘neoEurasianism’. In addition, the notion of ‘clash of civilizations’ proposed by Samuel Huntington became prominent in the political discourse in Russia at the end of 1990s. At the same time, the concept of civilization is discussed widely in today’s historical sociology. A specific school of ‘civilizational analysis’ that draws on the ideas of Shmuel Eisenstadt emerged at the end of the 1990s. This perspective has already influenced some new trends in sociology of religion, political sociology and international relations theory. The panel seeks to demonstrate the relevance of a new wave of civilizational analysis for understanding contemporary Russian culture, politics and society.
 Keywords: Russian society, civilizational transit, multiple modernities

Religious Socialization in a High Modern Society

This article is devoted to the study of how religious identity and belonging to a religious community becomes a life strategy for socialization, and can help to overcome crises at different stages of life. The text presents an analysis of the autobiographies of those who made religiosity the basis of their way of life and a means of of self-determination. The methodological basis of the research is the combination of the theory of multiple modernities and the method of biographical interviews. Namely, we pay attention to the strategy of constructing religious identity. Sampling was carried out using a combination of reference sampling methods and ‘snowball’, since our previous experience has shown that this combination gives the best results in the study of hard-to-reach religious groups. In total, the sample included 30 respondents at the rate of three representatives of each denomination (Orthodox, Catholics, old believers, Buddhists, Jews) in each of the two cities. They were interviews (in person and on Skype), then the resulting transcripts were processed according to the methodology of the analysis of biographical narrative, described by T. Ingrata. The method of biographical interview removes the problem of psychological barrier in respondents when communicating on sensitive topics, as Hyde does not affect them directly. When planning the sample, we included major denominations represented in Russia — Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Buddhism and Judaism. This procedure allows identifying and describing strategies of behavior, as it is based on the comparison of biographical data of respondents with the ‘told life story’, that is, the consideration of subjective experience in comparison with the real socio-cultural context.
 Keywords: religious conversion, life crisis, biography, biography method

FIN DE SIÈCLE, MODERNISM, MULTIPLE MODERNITIES AND DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THEM IN THE RUSSIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY

The paper covers the discussions about the Modern Style and Modernity in the Russian historiography. The terms Modern Style, Modern Style Culture, Fin de siecle determine the turn of XIX-XX centuries, while the concept of Fin de siècle is quite popular in the Western historiography. As for the term "Belle Époque" is concerned it is less common in the Western historiography. The theory of multiple modernities raises the question of autonomy of the social institutions' evolution and the development of the cultural and symbolic area, including in the late-Imperial Russia. The combination of westernization and Empire modernization triggered different sociocultural trends: Empire construction was the primary imperative for some, while others voted for the reforms bringing together Russia and European modernity models, and the revolutionary westernization served to be the third force. It is seen to be quite reasonable to distinguish the rationalization and traditionalism in a modernized society, including in the art. Modernism which re-interprets all previous basics of the arts and has its purpose "to be" rather than "to mean" comes from philosophical, scientific, social, and political prerequisites.

The soviet version of modernity and its historical legacy: New theoretical approaches

The article considers some approaches to the analysis of post-communist transformations in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe. In the studies of social-political changes in post-communist societies, there is a new turn towards the analysis of long-term historical processes and the cultural context of contemporary social transformations. The authors emphasize that the ‘new historicism’ in the studies of post-communist transformations follows the sociological theory of multiple modernities, although its importance is not always recognized by researchers. Its original version developed by Shmuel Eisenstadt in the 1990s was not free from certain limitations due to the concept of ‘cultural program’ that presupposes a high degree of path dependence; however, these limitations were overcome in the works of Johann Arnason and Peter Wagner. The studies of post-communist transformations are often based on the early versions of modernization theory which presupposed a smooth transition to the market economy and liberal democracy. However, this approach encountered difficulties under the reversal of economic and political liberalization. The multiple modernities theory overcomes the limitations of this approach, it is relevant for the analysis of transformation processes in contemporary Russia and other post-communist states. In the recent studies of the historical legacies of communism, they are not considered as a ‘cultural program’ determining the trajectory of social development. The article describes some contemporary conservative ideologies in Russia as an example of the Soviet historical legacy’s influence, and argues that various ‘ideological ecosystems’ present their own interpretations of modernity.

A Beautiful, Sad Tale about Nonexistent Socialism in Hungary: The Story of Gyuri Cséplő

In the 1970s, director Pál Schiffer and his colleagues filmed the life story of Cséplő Gyuri (1978), a documentary feature about the prospect of a Gypsy protagonist breaking free from a slum in socialist Hungary. The original footage from the production is held in the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives in Budapest. The footage brings to light how the Gypsy/Romani protagonist of the film was cast, how he was brought from a Gypsy settlement in Németfalu to Budapest, how the film was screened, how audiences reacted, and what the filmmakers debated withlocal communities. The tragic early death of Gyuri Cséplő raised the question among the filmmakers how it would be possible to break free from poverty and from Gypsy settlements. In a socialcritique, the filmmakers presented a parallel world outside that of modern socialist Hungary. The theory of multiple modernities – and studies written as a result – suggest that modernization is not a singular phenomenon; that it affected various social and ethnic groups and actors in divergent ways. This microhistory investigates what differences can be revealed between the perspectives of minority and majority communities in socialist Hungary.

Modernity in Iran and Turkey: Patterns and Problems

Modernity implies ways of social and organizational life that began to improve in seventeenth-century Europe and gradually developed into the rest of the world. Due to its unanimous and progressive rationality, modernity has been highly influential in social, cultural, and political spheres, both in the West and among Muslim nations. Nations’ encounters with modernity have not always followed consistent patterns, and every country has had a unique experience of its own. Iran and Turkey are countries whose modern experience bears similar characteristics but gave way to entirely different outcomes. Modernization in both countries accelerated the growth of political and philosophical opposition, including that of the Islamist movement that regarded modernity as the enemy of national culture and religious values. Iran and Turkey made different choices and formed different fronts against modernity. This article is a historical sociology of modernity in Iran and Turkey that evaluates the divergent experience in each country, applying Eisenstadt’s theory of Multiple Modernities to examine the changes and outcomes of modernity in them.

Book Review: The Greek Crisis and Its Cultural Origins: A Study in the Theory of Multiple Modernities

Book Review: The Greek Crisis and Its Cultural Origins: A Study in the Theory of Multiple Modernities

Influence of Family Policy and Normative Beliefs about Family on Fertility: a Comparative Analysis

The article analyzes differences in the interrelations between family (or demographic) policy and fertility in familist and paternalist societies. It is argued that explanations of such differences based on multiple modernities theory and institutional approach are more comprehensive and better consistent with the empirical data than those presented by second demographic transition theory. The paternalistic nature of state-family relations caused an earlier launch of pronatalist measures, such as paid maternal leave in Soviet Russia in 1981 and “speed premium” in Sweden in 1986, as compared with Japan and South Korea, in which familism long prevented to implement the similar measures. Besides, in both Russia and Sweden fluctuations of fertility, due to its procyclical changes and jumps in response to pronatalist policy measures, were much stronger than in Southern Europe, South Korea and Japan. Although transmission of family loyalty patterns to corporative sphere strongly contributed to successive economic and technological modernizations of Japan and South Korea, it had a negative effect on fertility. Due to peculiarities of modernization, in Russia, as well as in Japan and South Korea, paternal leaves, unlike the Scandinavian countries, are still not popular. While solidarity of family members continues to play a vital role, it cannot provide for satisfactory level of fertility today and should be supplemented by policy aimed at increase of fertility.

Popular Religions and Multiple Modernities: A Framework for Understanding Current Religious Transformations

Popular, ethnic, and folk religions endure in all regions of the planet, but specially in underdeveloped or developing non-Western countries. The main objective of this paper was to propose a framework for understanding this popular religious trend. Although religion in general has previously been linked to multiple modernities, the revitalization of popular religions has not. While Eisenstadt’s original theory of multiple modernities has been criticized on several aspects, his interpretative approach is valid provided that the contradictory dynamics of modernizing processes are recognized. The epistemological shift suggested by this article involves recognizing the biases that Western sociology has brought to its analysis of religions. Once we treat modernities as multiple, the specificity of each modernity opens up the spectrum of religious alternatives that flourish in every geo-cultural area. The growing diversity of popular religious expressions in the Global South stems from the fact that they are supported by thousands of believers. Their lived religions spills beyond religious institutions. These popular religiosities are the main sources of religious diversities and religious resistance in the context of multiple modernities. Lived religion and symbolic action allow us a better understanding of the magical-religious expressions of peoples of the world.

Changing worldwide attitudes toward homosexuality: The influence of global and region-specific cultures, 1981–2012

While the acceptance of homosexuality has risen across many Western countries, we know little about whether or why attitudes have changed in the rest of the world. Here I investigate these questions while also testing the relative utility of three theories of what drives worldwide attitudinal change: (1) the postmaterialist thesis, which casts existential security as a main determinant; (2) world society theory, which emphasizes the influence of a diffusing global culture; and (3) multiple modernities theory, which points to the effect of region-specific cultural programs. Drawing on data from the integrated World Values Survey/European Values Survey (1981-2012), I use a longitudinal multilevel design to model worldwide change in the societal acceptance of homosexuality. In line with world society theory, the results show a broad worldwide upswing in the acceptance of homosexuality, driven largely by the diffusion of favorable global cultural messages. The results provide strong evidence that global culture has shaped collective attitudes globally, although the impact here is found to be less in more religious societies. At the same time, the analysis finds a widening attitudinal gap between countries, and, consistent with multiple modernities theory, suggests this is due in part to the role of region-specific cultural programs. Contrary to the postmaterialist thesis, existential security is not found to have influenced attitudes.

Diversity in unity? Some remarks on Europe in the light of Shmuel N. Eisenstadt’s theory of multiple modernities

Artykuł stanowi przyczynek do dyskusji na temat Europy z wykorzystaniem takich pojęć jak różnorodność i wielość. Odwołuje się do teorii Shmuela N. Eisenstadta wielości nowoczesności. Celem artykułu jest teoretyczne i historyczne uzasadnienie stosowania tych pojęć w odniesieniu do definiowania Europy. Ma on zarazem charakter wielowąt­kowy, jego szeroki zakres problemowy jest uzasadniony m.in. względami filozoficznymi i politologicznymi: zbiorowej tożsamości Europy, jej systemu politycznego i potencjal­nych kierunków jej modernizacji. Autorka przyjmuje, iż Europa jako Unia Europejska jest wciąż konstrukcją w procesie i tylko w ograniczonym stopniu może być uznana za coś kompletnego. Tym bardziej, że w ciągu ostatnich kilku lat wydarzenia o zasięgu glo­balnym, jak upadek żelaznej kurtyny w roku 1989, atak na Centrum Handlu Światowego w roku 2001 czy kryzys finansowy z roku 2008, pośrednio wpływają na jej kondycję. Niektóre kryzysy jak chociażby kryzys migracyjny mają na nią wpływ bezpośredni.

Post-secularism in multiple modernities

‘Post-secularism’ is a term that has emerged in various disciplines, including sociology, to reflect religion’s move back into the public sphere and the need to take into account the voice of religious actors in any contemporary analysis of society. This article argues that post-secularism is, in fact, a specific type of secularism that deals with the neoliberal management of religion in the public sphere. To unpack this argument, the article will first explore what is meant by post-secularism, and then, via a case study of Shari’a in Australia, it will move to the theory of multiple modernities in order to underline the relativeness of such a term. It will then be proposed that what is meant by post-secularism is, in fact, a type of secularism (perhaps ‘late’ rather than ‘post’) in neoliberal societies.

Popular religions and multiple modernities

Religious diversity and pluralism is increasing in Latin America. The religious field that was some decades ago totally Catholic has changed radically. Not only Pentecostalism or NeoPentecostalism but other Evangelicals as well as independent churches of various denominations and forms, non-affiliated people and many diverse (ethnic, afro-American , New Age, etc.) and diffuse religious expressions are growing. The main argument of this paper is that this religious changes toward pluralism can be fully understood in the context of multiple modernities theory, provided that it be revised and modified. A new sociological approach is needed. The classical sociological concepts and theories, beginning with secularization, must be criticized and replaced with a more complex theoretical view. Latin American historical processes must be compared with what is happening in other regions of the world and not only with the West. World religions are answering each one by their own path to multiple interactions with modernities. The key understanding of changes must come from a better insight of popular religions worldwide. Latin American, Eastern Asia, Islam regions, are good examples of popular forms of religious revitalization that contrasts with the Northern European case. They put in evidence the fact that new ways of producing sense and spiritual search in non-Western geo-cultural areas are framing specific relationships between religion and modernities and bringing about new religious pluralisms.

Socio-cultural dynamics of multiple modernities in Brazil and Russia

The article is devoted to comparative-historical analysis of transformation processes in Brazil and Russia from the viewpoint of the multiple modernities theory. Shmuel Eisenstadt’s study of the Latin American version of modernity and interpretations of his ideas in the works of contemporary sociologists are characterized. The peculiarities of modernization in Brazil are singled out including the impact of orientation to external centers of liberal modernity. The article considers the spread of modern ideologies and institutions in Brazilian society and the role of socio-cultural factors in its transition to democracy. The modernizing dynamics of Russian society is discussed on the basis of Johann Arnason’s sociological theory. It is emphasized that Arnason’s analysis of intercivilizational encounters and “imperial modernization” is essential for understanding social transformations in Russian society. The study of the Soviet model of modernity in Arnason’s works is also discussed in the article. It is argued that a comparative analysis of Brazil and Russia should take into consideration the impact of religious traditions and institutions on socio-political changes, the differences between modernizing trajectories of the two countries, the unequal length and intensity of imperial experience, the degree of openness towards western liberal modernity. The main difference of contemporary Russia from Latin American societies is the legacy of the Soviet period.

The Soviet Model of Modernity and Russia’s Post-communist Political Transformations

The article discusses political processes in post-Soviet Russia from the perspective of the multiple modernities theory. A study of Russia’s political transformation on the basis of this approach allows us to reconsider the obstacles to democratization that existed in the 1990s and the socio-cultural preconditions for de-democratization in the 2000s. The author draws on Johann Arnason’s analysis of the Soviet model of modernity. From this perspective the Soviet model possessed only some civilizational traits and did not lead to a sustainable civilizational pattern. Nevertheless, remnants of that model and the imperial legacy of the Soviet period influenced Russian politics of the last two decades. The dynamics of democratization and de-democratization in Russia represent a case of path dependency which is both post-communist and post-imperial.