ABSTRACT
The colonization of the lifeworld is a mechanism by which advanced capitalist society stabilizes itself. The citizens of the new modernity were increasingly subjected to what Habermas calls the colonization of the lifeworld. As the painful consequences of the colonization of the lifeworld become obvious, it is easy to lose track of the positive side of the developments associated with modernization. Lifeworld refers to the socio-cultural basis for communication, social interaction, consensus formation and conflict resolution. Habermas asserts that prior to the modern era, system and lifeworld stood in quite a different relation to each other than they do now. Such changes in the relation between system and lifeworld can be understood as indirect effects of the rationalization of production associated with industrialization. The concepts of system and lifeworld give us a new perspective on what is going on, but it may seem that Habermas has merely coined new terms for industrialization and tradition.
