Modernity in social and political theory

Modernity became a key concept in social and political theory and historical-comparative sociology during the 1980s and 1990s. It seemed to replace the concepts “modern society” or also “industrial society” and “capitalist society”, but it triggered new controversies over the normative and functional achievements of contemporary societies and over fruitful research strategies in comparative social and political analysis. The intense debate of that period has subsided, but the controversies remain unresolved and haunt current social and political theorizing. This chapter retraces the debate with a view to removing the misunderstandings by which it was marked and to identifying the key issues in analyzing the interpretations of modernity proposed in the current global constellation.