Re: Modernity & Politics

> 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 ...
This is true, but I think it greatly understates the appeal of 'being modern', 
which is not limited to various elites plus various groups we might see 
negatively (settlers, 'western feminists', etc (in any case, I'm not sure the 
settlers see themselves as 'modern'--many see themselves as on a bible-inspired 
mission)).  There are plenty of people near the bottom of the world system by 
any definition who also find the idea appealing (do black workers, or immigrant 
workers in the US have notably less 'modern' aspirations than white workers?).  
The 'modern' contempt for the traditional is played out on a micro-level in a 
million villages and urban neighborhoods world wide.  I am not thinking so much 
of the arrogance of agents of the state but frequently of a generational gap, 
with the young perceiving themselves as 'modern'. The most appealing thing 
about being modern, not emphasized nearly enough in the literature, is the 
promise of autonomy, particularly the right to not have your life-partner (or 
even one-night partner) chosen by some cabal of elders or by some fixed set of 
rules.  This has been the theme of mass-appeal modernist texts going back at 
least to Clarissa and continuing in numerous popular films to the present, 
which present love triumphing over 'traditional' obstacles like religious or 
racial differences, and now even gender conventions.  It is the promise of 
autonomy that has made the modern so alluring, and most of us who 'critique 
modernity' have no desire whatsoever to give up our own.  As a text 
recommendation on this point, I'd mention Gewertz and Errington's Twisted 
Histories, which discusses this aspect of modernity, and how it plays out among 
the Chambri, in several chapters.  Also take a look at Marshall Berman's 
response to Perry Anderson.
Steven Sherman