How may we characterize contemporary society in a world so complex? Can looking at the diverse paths followed by various cultures in the modern world generate useful new social scientific typologies, or must a different set of questions be posed in this era of globalization? What, in short, is the nature of modernity? These are some of the questions addressed by the contributors to Multiple Modernities.Following the theme in an earlier work edited by Shmuel Eisenstadt, Public Spheres and Collective Identities, this book challenges conventional notions of how the world has changed politically, socially, and economically. The authors consider the meaning of modernity in contexts as different as communist Russia, modern India, the Muslim world, Latin America, China and East Asia, and the United States. Miscegenation, transnational migration, technological developments, and changing communications have shifted the ground on which theories of society were once built; political system, diaspora groups, religion, and ""classical"" theories of modernity have to be reconsidered in a new context.Authors and chapters include: S.N. Eisenstadt, ""Multiple Modernities""; Bjrn Wittrock, ""Modernity: One, None, or Many? European Origins and Modernity as a Global Condition""; Johann P. Arnason, ""Communism and Modernity""; Nilfer Gle, ""Snapshots of Islamic Modernities""; Dale F. Eickelman, ""Island and the Languages of Modernity""; Sudipta Kaviraj, ""Modernity and Politics in India""; Stanley J. Tambiah, ""Transnational Movements, Diaspora, and Multiple Modernities""; Tu Weiming, ""Implications of the Jrise of 'Confucian' East Asia""; Jrgen Heideking, ""The Pattern of American Modernity from the Revolution to the Civil War""; and Renato Ortiz, ""From Incomplete Modernity to World Modernity.""Written in clear and non-technical language for both a scholarly and general audience, this volume confronts the problem of just what constitutes the common core of modernit

This collection of essays confirms Carmen de Burgos’s pivotal place in Spanish feminist history by bringing together eminent international scholars who offer new readings of Burgos’s work. It includes the analyses of a number of lesser-known texts, both fictional and non-fictional, which give us a more comprehensive examination of Burgos’s multipronge feminist approach. Burgos’s works, especially her essays, are essential feminist reading and complement other European and North American traditions. Gaining familiarity with the breadth and depth of her work serves not only to provide an understanding of Spanish firstwave feminism, but also enriches our appreciation of cultural studies, gender studies, subaltern studies and travel literature. Looking at the entirety of her life and work, and the wide-ranging contributions in this volume, it is evident that Burgos embodied the tensions between tradition and modernity, depicting multiple representations of womanhood. Encouraging women to take ownership of their personal fashion, the design of their homes and the decorum of their families were steps towards recognizing a female population that was cognizant of its own desires.

Engaging with the idea that the world reveals not one, but many routes to modernity, this volume explores the role of religion in the emergence of multiple forms of modernity, which evolve according to specific cultural conditions and interpretations of the 'modern project'. It draws upon case study material from Africa, The Middle East, Russia and South America to examine the question of whether modernity, democracy and secularism are universalistic concepts or are, on the contrary, unique to Western civilization, whilst considering the relationship of postsecularism to the varied paths of modern development. Drawing together work from leading social theorists, this critical theoretical contribution to current debates will appeal to sociologists, social theorists and political scientists, with interests in religion, secularization and postsecularization theory and transitions to modernity in the contemporary globalized world.

Antiquity, as the term has been understood and used over the centuries by scholars, political and religious figures, and ordinary citizens, is far from a single, monolithic concept. Rather than reflecting a stable, shared understanding about the past and its meaning, the idea of antiquity is instead varying and multiple, taking on different meanings and deployed to different effects depending on the context in which it is being considered. In this volume, historians from a wide range of specialties offer a comparative assessment of the multiple perceptions of antiquity that have shaped modern European cultures and national identities, deploying a new methodological approach, histoire croisée, which considers these questions in light of the development of cultural diversity across Europe.

Multiple Modernities is a departure from the "classic" sociological homogenization theories. The edition presents an interdisciplinary discussion of the topic in sociological, historical and economic dimensions. It explores culturally specific forms of modernity with a focus on China and Europe.

Multiple Modernities explores the cultural terrain of East Asia. Arguing that becoming modern happens differently in different places, the contributors examines popular culture - most notable cinema and television - to see how modernization, as both a response to the West and as a process that is unique in its own right in the region, operates on a mass level. Included in this collection are significant explorations of popular culture in East Asia, including Chinese new cinema and rock music, Korean cinema, Taiwanese television, as well as discussions of alternative arts in general. While each essay focuses on specific nations or cinemas, the collected effect of reading them is to offer a comprehensive, in-depth picture of how popular culture in East Asia operates to both generate and reflect the immense change this significant region of the world is undergoing. Contributors include: Jeroen de Kloet, Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, Yomota Inuhiko, Frances Gateward, Hector Rodriguez, Dai Jaihua, David Desser, August Palmer, Lu Szu-Ping and the editor.

This book is the summation of many decades of work by Peter L. Berger, an internationally renowned sociologist of religion. Secularization theory—which saw modernity as leading to a decline of religion—has been empirically falsified. It should be replaced by a nuanced theory of pluralism. In this new book, Berger outlines the possible foundations for such a theory, addressing a wide range of issues spanning individual faith, interreligious societies, and the political order. He proposes a conversation around a new paradigm for religion and pluralism in an age of multiple modernities. The book also includes responses from three eminent scholars of religion: Nancy Ammerman, Detlef Pollack, and Fenggang Yang.