Contemporary theories of modernity and modernization

Abstract

The article discusses the evolution of modernization theories since the middle of the 20th century. Talcott Parsons’ contribution to elaboration of the theory of modernization and critique of the functionalist version of this theory are characterized. The alternative approaches to modernization processes in the works of representatives of neo-Marxist and neo-Weberian historical sociology such as Barrington Moore and Reinhardt Bendix are considered. In addition, Anthony Giddens’ theory of institutional dimensions of modernity is discussed in the article. It is argued that this theory encounters some limitations when dealing with Soviet-type societies. Thus Giddens drew on the model of totalitarian dictatorship and ignored the “revisionist” approaches to Soviet history while his analysis of capitalist market economy as one of the dimensions of modernity actually excluded communist societies. Particular attention is devoted to different versions of the theory of multiple modernities. A distinction is made between Shmuel Eisenstadt’s approach to this problem and the “non-European conceptualization” of modernity offered by Nicos Mouzelis. It is noted that combining the differentiation theory with ideas borrowed from neo-Weberian historical sociology may prove to be a promising way of theorizing non-western modernities. The importance of Johann Arnason’s ideas for the study of transformations of the Soviet model of modernity is also emphasized in the article.дерна. Проводится различие между подходом к данной проблематике, предложенным Ш. Эйзенштадтом, и «неевропейской концептуализацией модерна» в работах Н. Музелиса. Подчеркивается значение идей Й. Арнасона для исследований трансформации советской версии модерна.