Demystifying Modernity: In Defence of a Singular and Normative Ideal
In contrast to the dominant discourses of anti/post modernity and/or multiple modernities, this intervention seeks to work out a singular and normative version of modernity which is non-negotiable and applicable across cultures. The question of modernity within these dominant discourses is mostly discussed with reference to culture and its geographico-historical variants. And, in this context, modernity is seen as a historic-cultural specificity invading and imposing itself on other cultures. Instead, modernity could be more fruitfully seen as impinging at the level of power-realisation and power-re-configuration within different cultures, in which case it is possible to work out a singular and normative version, even while maintaining differences in cultures. Taking off from the specific vantage-point of contemporaryIndia, it is argued that modernity could be defined as transition to egalitarianism becoming hegemonic. It is believed that more of social reality could be explained through such a shift of discourse.
