Political Theory, Modernity and Postmodernity

Debates about the nature, character and implications of ′modernity′ have moved center 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. In this pioneering survey N. J. Rengger remedies the problem by providing a short, accessible and comprehensive account of the modernity debate and an analysis of its implications for political theory. "Modernity" is a notion widely used, but much misunderstood. In attempting to analyze the component parts of recent debate, the author identifies two broad "senses" of modernity: "modernity as mood" and "modernity as socio–cultural form". He then offers an outline interpretation of the debates ranged round these conceptions, examining the positions 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 which 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 the need for contemporary political theory to break down the barriers and dichotomies which structure its current practice.

Acknowledgements. Preface. Introduction: Political Philosophy Agonistes. Part I: The Modernity Debate: . 1. Two Senses of Modernity. 2. Defenders of the Faith, Disturbers of the Peace. Part II: Living With/In Modernities. 3. An Ethico–Political Imperative. 4. Towards a Political Theory?. Bibliography.

N. J. Rengger is Lecturer in Politics at the University of Bristol, UK