Against ‘modernity’: a dissident rant

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Abstract
In the course of a critical analysis of some of the writings of Jurgen Habermas, Anthony Giddens,uart Hall, Steven Crook et al. and Zygmunt Bauman, the paper arugues that the term ‘modernity’ should have no place in the general sociological vocabulary. This is for three main reasons. First, having only recently ralzed that the term ‘captitalism’ hadn been allowed too wide a referent, it is a huge mistake to embrace as a substitue an equally over-extendedd term. Second, if the sociological use made of ‘capitalism’ carried a Eurocentrism, the use of ‘modernity’ carries an Amer-centrism that is as obvious aas it is unknown to most if its uders. Third, ignorance of the Amercan origins of the sociological usage of ‘modernity’ has led to mistaken accounts of the term's sociological genealogy and utter confusion as to the present nature of societies other than the United States, since there is no defensibel reason for referring to them as either ‘modern’ or ‘postmodern’.

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