Modernization Theory and the Problem of Historical Time


	History magazine - researches Reference: M. Peltonen Modernization Theory and the Problem of Historical Time // History magazine - researches. 2013. № 3. P. 247-251. URL: https://en.nbpublish.com/library_read_article.php?id=62981 M. Peltonen Modernization Theory and the Problem of Historical Time Abstract: The paper considers important and changing ideas about the qualitative characteristics of various periods of time and of the transitions between them. Soon after the Second World War a new social science theory emerged in the United States. It gained a hegemonic position in Western social thinking for the following decades until at least the 1970s. And some of its basic assumptions proved even more enduring. Here I try to assess the meaning of modernization theory on how we think of historical time. Historical time is a difficult concept (as are all concepts of time), because it is used implicitly. For me it means collective ideas about time that differ from physical time and calendar time. Often we discuss notions of historical time as periodization and use quite abstract labels for long periods of time (e.g. Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Modern Times). In addition, we have important and changing ideas about the qualitative characteristics of various periods of time and of the transitions between them Keywords: Modernization theory, historical time, modern society, industrialization, World-Economy. This article can be downloaded freely in PDF format for reading. Download article References 1. Alexander Jeffrey C.: The Dark Side of Modernity. Polity 2013. 2. Braudel Fernand: The Structures of Everyday Life. Civilization and Capitalims15th-18th century. Vol 1. London: Collins 1981. 3. Braudel Fernand: The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Volume II. London: Fontana/Collins, 1971. 4. Braudel Fernand: The Perspective of the World. Civilization & Capitalism 15th-18th Century. London: Collins 1984. 5. Herf Jeffrey: Reactionary Modernity. Technology, Culture, and Politics in Weimar and the Third Reich. Cambridge University Press, 1984. 6. Koselleck Reinhart: The Practice of Conceptual History. Timing History, Spacing Concepts. Stanford: Stanford University Press 2002. 7. Kuczynski Jürgen. Gesellschaften im Untergang: Vergleichende Niedergangsgeschichte vom Römischen Reich bis zu den vereinigten Staaten von Amerika. Pahl-Rugenstain Verlag, 1984. 8. Laslett Peter: The World We Have Lost. London: Methuen 1965. 9. Latham Michael E.: Modernization as Ideology: American Social Science and “Nation Building” in the Kennedy Era. Chapel Hill & London: The University of North Carolina Press 2000. 10. Peltonen Matti: “The Weber Thesis and Economic Historians”. Max Weber Studies 2008:1. 11. Robert A. Nisbet: Social Change and History. Aspects of the Western Theory of Development. London etc: Oxford University Press 1969. 12. Thompson F.M.L.: Gentrification and the Enterprise Culture. Britain 1780-1980. Oxford University Press, 2001. 13. Thomson J. K. S.: Decline in History. The European Experience. Polity Press, 1998. 14. Wallerstein Immanuel: The Capitalist World-Economy. Essays. Cambridge etc: Cambridge University Press 1979. 15. Wallerstein Immanuel: The Modern World-System III: The Second Era of Great Expansion of the Capitalist World-Economy 1730s-1840s. San Diego etc.: Academic Press 1989. 16. Wallerstein Immanuel: The Modern World-System IV: Centrist Liberalism Triumpant, 1789-1914. Berkeley etc: University of California Press 2011. 17. Wallerstein Immanuel: The Politics of the World-Economy. The States, the Movements, and the Civilizations. Cambridge etc: Cambridge University Press, 1984. 18. Wiener Martin J.: English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit 1850-1980. Cambridge University Press, 1981

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M. Peltonen Modernization Theory and the Problem of Historical Time