Modernity should be defined as the civilization capitalism built.
Evidence
Perhaps we should think of modernity as the kind of civilization formed by the development and global dominance of the capitalist mode of production. — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 162
Categorization
- DEFINE: Proposes a precise, materialist definition of modernity itself — useful for contesting Jameson’s postmodernism thesis.
- XREF: connects to: Modernity is best understood as the civilization produced by global capitalism — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 162; Capitalism reproduces itself by drawing civil and cultural life into conformity with its needs; Colonialism constitutes modernity itself rather than merely deriving from it — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism: A Critique of…, 44 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Capitalism reproduces itself by drawing civil and cultural life into conformity with its needs
#expands(0.85) - Modernity is a deliberate power project, not a natural unfolding
#expands(0.80) — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 375 - Classical social theory defined modernity by the application of scientific rationality over tradition
#contradicts(0.80) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 151 - Colonialism constitutes modernity itself rather than merely deriving from it
#qualifies(0.75) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 44 - Contemporary capitalism should be renamed infantile capitalism since everyone is born into it
#exemplifies(0.75) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 782 - Modernity is the permanent urge to modernize, not a destination
#qualifies(0.75) - Reconstruction was the hinge where world capitalism assumed its modern shape.
#exemplifies(0.75) - Modernity is best understood as compulsive, self-propelling modernization, not a completed state
#qualifies(0.72) — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 651 - Capitalist modernity cannot be understood from its internal dynamics alone
#complicates(0.72) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 487