Political Theory, of Modernity and Postmodernity: Beyond Enlightenment and Critique

Debates about the nature, character and implications of "modernity" have moved centre stage within contemporary social thought, but there has as yet been little work addressing the relevance of these debates to the agenda of Anglo-American political theory. "Modernity" is a notion widely used, but much misunderstood. In attempting to analyze the component parts of recent debate, this book identifies two broad "senses" of modernity - "modernity in mood" and "modernity as socio-cultural form". It then offers an outline interpretation of the debates ranged round these conceptions, examining the position and arguments of modernity's defenders and its critics, and suggesting how and in what way its implications for political theory might be assessed. In the subsequent search for treatments of identity, community and democracy that address the issues problematized by both sides in the modernity debate, a new agenda for political theory emerges. This framework is designed neither as a full defence of modernity, nor as a complete acceptance of the "postmodern turn", but one which nevertheless recognizes the significance of the points raised by the debates, and argues for an integrated theory for contemporary world politics.