ABSTRACT
Modernity, as a sociological construction, has its foundations in the overarching frames for conceptualizing the economic, social, cultural, political and subjective that emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This chapter considers the models of modern society proposed by founding social thinkers, and their influences on the modernist sociological project. In doing so, it discusses the ideas underpinning core traditions of social thinking about the modern, and traces the roots of contemporary frames for conceptualizing modernity and social change. Viewed together, the ideas considered in this chapter constitute a constructive movement or ‘moment’ in theorizing about the modern that is crucial to understanding contemporary (reconstructive and deconstructive) approaches to modernity. By considering this con - structive movement, the chapter aims to situate the recent heightened interest in modernity with respect to sociology’s longstanding concerns. The chapter explores how the analyses of Marx, Durkheim and Weber envision modernity. It also considers the work of Simmel and Freud that has been influential in debates about modernity and postmodernity. It concludes by briefly discussing the implications of these thinkers’ com - bined ideas for a general understanding of modernity and the modernist sociological project.
