This book argues that contemporary society in Western democracies is generally misunderstood to be a pyramidal hierarchy dominated either by government or the economy. Neither view is correct. We live in a fundamentally pluralistic society divided into numerous 'modular' social systems each performing different functions; these include politics, public administration, the armed forces, law, economics, religion, education, health and the mass media. Because each is specialized, none of these systems are dominant and there is no overall hierarchy of power. Modernizing societies are therefore structured more like a mosaic than a pyramid.
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Editorial Reviews
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"A powerful and new analysis of how modernisation alters society, why it is both inevitable and desirable." -- Matt Ridley
"An excellent statement of our conditions, full of insights and clarifying connections." -- Martin Trow, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley
"An excellent statement of our conditions, full of insights and clarifying connections." -- Martin Trow, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley
About the Author
Reader in Evolutionary Psychiatry at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and Editor in Chief of the Medical Hypotheses journal
Lecturer in Computing Science at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Modernization originally referred to the contrast and transition between a 'traditional' agrarian society and the kind of 'modern' society that is based on trade and industry. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
functional social systems, modernization imperative, adaptive complexity, modernizing societies, modernizing society, other social systems Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Age, Deep Green New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Modernization originally referred to the contrast and transition between a 'traditional' agrarian society and the kind of 'modern' society that is based on trade and industry. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
functional social systems, modernization imperative, adaptive complexity, modernizing societies, modernizing society, other social systems Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Age, Deep Green New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 27
books:
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20
books
cite this book:
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- Philosophy and Social Hope by Richard Rorty in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Liberty Option (Societas) by Tibor R. Machan in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Social Systems (Writing Science) by Niklas Luhmann in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Universities: The Recovery of an Idea (Societas) by Gordon Graham in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Reality of the Mass Media (Cultural Memory in the Present) by Niklas Luhmann in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
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- The Snake that Swallowed Its Tail (Societas) by Mark Garnett on 4 pages
- The Party's Over: Blueprint for a Very English Revolution (Societas) by Keith Sutherland in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Self-star Properties in Complex Information Systems: Conceptual and Practical Foundations (Lecture Notes in Computer Science / Theoretical Computer Science and General Issues) by Ozalp Babaoglu on page 257, and page 258
- Self and Society: Studies in the Evolution of Consciousness (Societas) by William I Thompson in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Our Last Great Illusion: A Radical Psychoanalytical Critique of Therapy Culture (Societas) by Rob Weatherill on page 110, and Back Matter
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