Fw: Modernity and Politics

it is not clear to me why capitalism would not be a better term to use than
modernity. why be so willing to grant legitimacy to a liberal discourse of
the modern? all of the characteristics that people associate with modernity
are actually features of capitalism as a mode of production.
----- Original Message -----
From: <samman@Macalester.edu>
To: <psn@csf.colorado.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 12:35 PM
Subject: Modernity and 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
>
>
>