ABSTRACT
It is perhaps beyond cliché to speak of modernization anymore. As with any concept that achieves significant reach throughout the academic world, modernity has been sliced, diced, reconstructed, refuted and, finally, all but emptied of any meaning. Any mention of modernization now must be accompanied by a clarification, a qualification, or perhaps an apology. It is a word and a concept void of any inherent meaning anymore, so when one uses it, it seems as though one is copping out, as if they had nothing precise to say, but felt the need to label a phenomenon anyway.
