ABSTRACT
This introduction discusses the meaning of political modernity, as a differentiated dimension of modern civilisation, rejecting however the idea of ‘the political’. It presents the general idea of the book and outlines political modernity and authoritarian collectivism (so-called ‘real socialism’), describing the content of each part and chapter. This introduction also provides a general discussion of the book's methodology, including its analytical strategy, the concept of developmental trends and the role of genealogy. The concept of collective subjectivity, with its ramifications, is sketched. The introduction claims the perspective of critical theory for the book, stressing that, in this case, it is an ecumenical critical theory of modernity that is at stake. While the introduction stresses the concern of the book with a critical diagnosis of the present, the notion of populism is rejected.
