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Douglass reviews 'Political Theory, Modernity and Post-Modernity' by N. J. Rengger.

The future of socialism is discussed, with focus on: whether capitalist production encompasses a rationality that socialism lacks; the relation between capitalism & socialism; & the connections between capitalistic development & modernity. The institutional dimensions of modernity are identified -- capitalism, industrialism, administrative power, & military power. Understanding this multidimensional character of modernity is important to understanding types of movements, ie, the labor movement, civil & human rights movements, peace & disarmament campaigns, & ecological movements. Utopianism, which Karl Marx disdained, & which ironically is currently disavowed due to the failure of Marxism, is discussed, & a new utopian realism proposed. 3 Illustrations. C. Grindle

Discusses the relationship between modernity & anthropology in the context of posttotalitarian Eastern European countries. Modernity is defined as a Western ideological attitude, implies progression & a notion of preconceived temporality, & requires the appropriation of social elements from foreign civilizations. In the context of anthropology, modernity is an object, manner, or method of study as conceived by an individual anthropologist in his or her own society. Since anthropological studies were inaccessible to European societies under totalitarian rule, classical ethnography is prevalent in posttotalitarian scholarship, & the introduction of anthropology is perceived as a process of modernization. Anthropological studies in posttotalitarian nations have strengthened scientific approaches to social & cultural studies & helped develop cultural & psychological identities, focusing on the center-periphery relationship. Anthropology's importance to the contemporary world is discussed in conclusion. 22 References. Adapted from the source document.

Zygmunt Bauman's (1989) assertion that the Holocaust was engendered by the bureaucratic rationality of the Germans is challenged, arguing that his interpretation of the linkage between modernity & the Holocaust is based on a distorted understanding of totalitarianism. Further, Bauman is charged with identifying modernity in relation to an instrumental rationality. Bauman's spurious understanding of modernity is connected to Max Horkheimer & Theodor Adorno's (1972 translation) text that associates modernity with totalitarianism & Herbert Marcuse's (1960) treatment of the combat between dialectical & positivistic forms of reason in the modern world. Identified are seven essential characteristics of modernity, including universalized rights of citizens & capitalist rationalization. The search for an autonomous civil society is held responsible for the development of modern civilization & its defining characteristic -- the normalization of perpetual change. The conception of the modern city as promulgated by the Bolshevik Revolution is perceived as a response to Western culture. It is concluded that totalitarianism is the product of a form of anticapitalist domination rather than of instrumental rationality. J. W. Parker

Karl Marx's work can be read as a set of complete answers, or as a compelling formulation of timeless problems. Favoring the second interpretation, the following constituent features of modernity are discussed as originally highlighted by Marx: (1) the inherent dynamism of modern society makes expansion & industrialization its main features; (2) modern society is rationalized; (3) modern society is functionalist; (4) science, rather than religion, becomes the basis for the accumulation of knowledge; (5) traditional customs are dismantled & traditional virtues lost while certain values become increasingly universalized; (6) the erosion of the canons of creation & interpretation; & (7) the pluralization of the concepts of "right" & "true." S. Karganovic.

Uses classical & current aesthetics theory to argue that analyzing liturgy serves as an effective route to understanding the problems of modernity, particularly the crisis of increasing social fragmentation. It is contended that modernity's refusal of liturgy, instead of generating secularization, creates a kind of perverse antiliturgical liturgy. Liturgy, because of its unique situation between the aesthetic & the political, represents a key to understanding the empty & fragmentary qualities of liberal individualization. Platonic readings of community are used to show how liturgy represents a political category because it fuses the realistic with the ideal. US capitalist society's near-religious refusal of liturgy defines the very structure of its cities (without cathedrals as center) & the very structure of its time (without a reflective hour in the day or a reflective day in the week). Modern society's use of spectacle to replace spiritual ceremony is also examined as a form of pseudo-liturgy. D. Bajo