Modernity & Politics

Greetings,

Lately I've become interested in the topic of the
politics of modernity.  Europeans, nationalists,
settlers, and social scientists of all flavors have
used this concept so often that we can state the
obvious: "being modern" is the dominant self-image of
those who rule, accumulate, and produce knowledge. 
The social science community is becoming more aware of
this and excellent work is now being produced on this
topic.  These have asked "how modernity might not be
what it purports to be or tells itself" (Lila
Abu-Lughod).  That is, the discourse around "being
modern" is a political project that rather than
emancipating and ushering in an age of progress is in
fact implanted by European colonialists and local
elites to enhance their social control over the
multitude.  

But what I do not see much of is the question of why
"being modern" may attract the attention of some lower
but emerging sectors of our world: white working
classes in the US, Zionist settlers in Palestine, some
western feminists ... 

Partha Chaterjee, for instance, does an excellent job
demonstrating how Indian nationalist elites used the
discourse of modernity to rule and appropriate the
technologies and science of the west while preserving
the interior, domestic, spiritual realm.  But what
about other nationalist elites like Kemal Attaturk of
Turkey or David Ben-Gurion of Israel who reached into
the interior in an effort to purify the state from its
"medieval" and "backward" past?  More importantly, why
do large sectors of such communities grap hold of this
discourse, like Jewish European settlers?  Does anyone
know of any readings that deal with this topic?  It
doesn't have to be on Israel or Turkey. It could be
global or micro.  

Thanks,
Khaldoun

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