ABSTRACT
This chapter examines ways in which modernity and its problems enter into colloquial communication and scholarly analysis. It sorts through different visions of modernity in order to decide what it is that qualifies a society as Modern. A feature of the modern social context is that we have become all too aware of the fact that a writer's choices are informed by ideological perspectives, worldviews and personal concerns of which they are only partly conscious. In everyday conversation, one often hears it said that modern life is just 'one problem after another'. The young Egyptian finds herself at the collision point between two cultural systems, a collision set up by the forces known as modernization. The modern frame of mind is something one picks up in bits and pieces through processes of socialization in families, schools, and peer groups and media exposure. The term modernization is equally problematic. It refers too globally to a diverse set of societal developments.
