Introduction: What is Modernity?

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about the meaning of the term “modernity”, focusing in particular on: (i) feudalism, the period which preceded modernity, and its characteristics, especially its cyclical nature, its social hierarchy, and its basis in a religious worldview; (ii) the transition to modernity through capitalism and the Enlightenment, and the shift from cyclical to dynamic forms of production; (iii) some of the key features of modernity, such as its emphasis on individualism and innovation over tradition, its new understanding of time as being progressive rather than cyclical, and Max Weber’s notion of disenchantment.

About the lecturer

Dr Ross Abbinnett is Senior Lecturer in Social and Political Theory at the University of Birmingham. His recent publications include The Neoliberal Imagination: Politics, Aesthetics, and Economics in the Evolution of Hyper-Industrial Capitalism (2021), The Thought of Bernard Stiegler: Capitalism, Technology and the Politics of Spirit (2018) and Marxism After Modernity: Politics, Technology and Social Transformation (2006).