Modernity and Its Critics

Abstract

The nebulous concept of modernism has often been connected to notions of determinism in the sense that modernity follows a perceived trajectory of technological progress towards greater measures of artificiality and control, urbanity and rationality. In this complex, transformed notions of speed and space as well as possibilities and threats have often been highlighted. Modernity is thus a double-edged sword. Strive for control of nature, as well as the understanding of humanity’s role as part of nature, has been the centre of the problem. Although modernity has underscored the emancipative force of what seems to have been institutionally distributed growth due to technical change, modern thinkers have to an increasing extent stressed how complexes of institutions and technologies limit individual and institutional freedom.