Modernity and diversity
Reflections on the Controversy Between Modernization Theory and Multiple Modernists
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3085207 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Volker H Schmidt (0000-0002-4745-1576, National University of Singapore, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 511-538 |
| Publication date | 2010-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Science Information (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0539-0184 • E-ISSN: 1461-7412 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0539018410376882 |
| OpenAlex | W2147449023 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 24 |
| References cited | 60 |
The article revisits modernization theory's convergence claim, which has been strongly criticized by multiple modernists, who maintain that emerging realities have not borne out its underlying premises. Based on a thorough reading of classical texts, the article reconstructs the term's meaning within a modernization-theoretical frame of reference and then considers the evidence that multiple modernists hold against it. It finds that none of the observations cited by leading multiple modernists are able to challenge modernization theory, which can easily accommodate the kinds of difference invoked by its critics. East-Asian modernity in particular, to which both sides assign special weight for any test of modernization theory, appears remarkably similar to Western modernity when viewed through the lenses of this theory. At the same time, the literature on multiple modernities, despite pleading to take difference seriously, is silent about differences that large parts of the less-developed world exhibit vis-a-vis the West and East Asia in social-structural and cultural respects, indicating different degrees of modernization. The article concludes with a brief note on the differential weight of different kinds of diversity for different reference problems and a suggestion for a constructive resolution of the conflict between the two approaches
Constructive · Economics · Epistemology · Modernity · Modernization theory · Political science · Positive economics · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Computer Science · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philosophy · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Socioeconomic Development in Asia
Toward Building Strategic International University-Society Partnerships in Africa
Progress without Progressives? The Effects of Development on Women's Educational and Political Equality in Cultural Context, 1980 to 2010
Journalism and Multiple Modernities
Baskıcı ve Dışlayıcı Han Milliyetçiliğinin Doğu Türkistan (Sincan Uygur Özerk Bölgesi)’da Yansımaları
Bringing History back into Media Systems Theory
Sonic discourses on Muslim Malay modernity
Child Marriage as a ‘Solution’ to Modern Youth in Bali
Does industrial development predict equalization in educational opportunity? A multiverse analysis
Sociology
Multiple Modernities – Chancen und Grenzen eines Konzepts
Max Weber’s Methodology and the Comparative Sociology of Religion
Modernist education and the myth of development in Africa
What Modernisation? The Case of Russian Partnerships for Modernisation with the European Union and Its Member States
Distinct Conceptions of Freedom in East Asia and the Protestant West Underpin Unique Pathways of Societal Development
Values in Life Domains in a Cross-National Perspective
Dimensions and antinomies of modernization in the globalized world
Guerreiro Ramos E a Crítica À Sociologia Da Modernização
Malaysian Identities and Mélange Food Cultures
Modernity and diversity
Global modernity
Modernity, modernities and modernization
Developing the concept of society
Modernization Theory, Then and Now
The re-enchantment of universal values
Globale, multiple und verwobene Modernen
An East Asian Renaissance
Human Development Report 2006
Human Development Report 2009
Death Without Weeping
Varieties of Capitalism
Transformation of the Welfare State
Varieties of Capitalism
Political Order in Changing Societies
Development, Democracy, and Welfare States
Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft
Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft
The New Middle Classes Globalizing Lifestyles, Consumerism and Environmental Concern
Chinese Capitalism in a Global Era
OECD Reviews of Health Care Systems
Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia
Social Theory and Later Modernities
Inequality in Latin America
Families in Asia
Open Varieties of Capitalism
Development as Freedom
India
Modernization, Cultural Change, and Democracy
The Reality of the Mass Media
The Mighty Pillar of the Family’
Nationbuilding and Citizenship
The Passing of Traditional Society
Convergence and Divergence of Modern and Modernizing Societies
Asia-Pacific Regionalization and the Global Economy
The Passing of Traditional Society
The Sociological Tradition
Imagined communities
Productivist Welfare Capitalism
The Change to Change
Evolutionary Universals in Society
Modernization, Cultural Change, and the Persistence of Traditional Values
Nordic Modernity
The New Middle Classes
Some Social Requisites of Democracy
Modernity and diversity
Endangered Daughters, Discrimination and Development in Asia
The Labor of Development
Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
The "Flight From Marriage" in South-East and East Asia
The Scientist's Role in Society
Untouchability in Modern India
The New Class and Democratic Social Relations in South Korea
Globalization
Multiple Modernities or Varieties of Modernity
World Society and the Nation-State
The Illusion of Welfare 'Regimes
| Unique citing works | 24 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2025 (16) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 23 |