Modernity Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft Peter Burger identified characteristics of modernization – process of social change begun by industrialization Decline of small, traditional towns High-tech communications puts small towns in touch with world Expansion of personal choice Unending series of options referred to as “individualization” Increasing diversity in beliefs Promotes more rational, scientific world-view Future orientation and growing awareness of time Living in industrialized nations tends to focus more on future than on past Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies community-town civil society or 'association‘-City

Ferdinand Tonnies & Loss of Community With modernization comes loss of gemeinschaft, or human community Loss of community caring Beginning of individualization Business-like emphasis Modernity brings about condition gesellschaft, or impersonal People live among strangers Ignore most they pass on streets

Emile Durkheim & Division of Labor Modernization is marked by increases in a complex division of labor People performing highly distinctive roles rather than everyone performing same daily routines Society transformed from mechanical to organic solidarity Mechanical solidarity refers to a time when society was held together by social bonds anchored in common moral sentiments Organic solidarity refers to modernity during which time social bonding is accomplished by way of mutual dependence

Max Weber and Rational Society Modernization means replacing a traditional worldview with a rational way of thinking Modern people value efficiency, have little reverence for the past and adopt whatever social patterns allow them to achieve their goals Karl Marx & Capitalism Industrial revolution was a capitalist revolution Social conflict in capitalism sows seeds of egalitarian socialist revolution

Theoretical Analysis of Modernity Structural-functional theory Mass society is a society in which prosperity and bureaucracy have eroded traditional social ties Draws upon the ideas of Tonnies, Durkheim and Weber Social-conflict theory Class society is a capitalist society with pronounced social stratification Draws upon the ideas of Marx

David Riesman: Modernity & the Individual Personal identity can be a problem since society changes so rapidly; Inherent instability Social character refers to personality patterns common to members of a particular society Tradition-directedness refers to rigid conformity to time-honored ways of living Other-directedness refers to a receptiveness to the latest trends and fashions, often expressed in the practice of imitating others

Postmodernity Social Patterns Characteristic of Postindustrial Societies In some ways, modernity has failed Much poverty and stress The bright light of progress is fading Less confidence about future Science no longer holds the answers Science has created its share of problems Cultural debates are intensifying The promises of social movements have not been fulfilled Social institutions are changing All institutions are going through change, including the most basic, the family