What Is the Meaning of Modernization?
To modernize is to adapt to the requirements of current times, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Historical discourses use the term to refer to periods of transformation from "traditional" to "modern" societies.
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Features
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According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, modernization is closely linked with industrialization. This includes the movement from rural to urban environments and the increased use of machinery that marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
Social Change
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According to cultural studies professor Edgar Landgraf, Ph.D., pre-modern societies rely on the highest level of a social hierarchy, usually a religious or political body, for their definition and governance. In modern societies, institutions such as science, art and education define their own function.
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Key Figures
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The economic ideas of philosophers such as Adam Smith combined with technological contributions from inventors such as James Watt and Eli Whitney helped drive the industrial component of modernization.
Art Movement
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Modernism in art challenged traditional forms of expression established by dominant authorities. Art History Professor Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe states that "the overarching goal of Modernism, of modern art, has been the creation of a better society."
Criticism
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Critics such as Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche point to economic inequalities and to the notion that scientific progress, under modernization, does not serve the interests of the individual.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit nostalgic steam engine 1095 image by Silver Bromide from Fotolia.com
