The Twentieth Century in an Iron Cage: Modernization and Rationalization

There is a way of telling the story of Europe’s twentieth century thatcasts a particular and perhaps disconcerting light on politics, and on what politics can accomplish. The easiest way to summarize that view of development is “modernization”. Modernization involves a transformation of society, a shift to urban existence, industrial and service sector employment, female emancipation, the individualization of existence, the questioning of traditional values, and frequently a waning of religion. There is in short a remaking of the idea of man and woman.