The modern world and their development owe a lot to Europe foe they played a significant role in the process of formation that led to the new modern societies. Modernity developed from the 18‘“ century and began from a group of key thinker in Europe who recognized the need to enlighten the world and reorganize the society from the darkness of absolutism to the progress of light Europe invented the first civilization that was significant in setting the world in a path of development. Although the concept of modernity began as early as the 16‘h century, it is the 18‘“ century that they were fully realized. In their priority, the Europe thinkers of the time saw the need to extend their enlightenment from Europe and create a new a new framework of ideas that defined then man nature and society. Several factors influenced the spread of the Europe civilization in the world included.
Christianity and the need of resources to fuel the European civilization that had since depleted resources required sustaining the modern development from Europe Despite that other forms of civilization existed in other societies as well, the European civilization appeared to be more superior and modern than the rest of the world. It is therefore necessary to highlight the crucial role that Europe played in the development of modernity and its consequences in the world. Enlightenment refers to the history of European intellectuality mainly from the eighteen century. The eighteen century was defined as the age of enlightenment in the European history as it sought to mobilize power to reform society. Although the majority of the states in Europe sought to enlighten the other societies for the benefit of state and the Church, they understood the importance of reforming the traditional man from the state of ignorance and error.
The rise to modernity was characterized by the several factors. They include the rise of states and nation Education, among others. The European thinkers agreed that for people to achieve equality there must be nations and the governments so that resources can be shared equally. The first forms of modern governments were established in Europe Europeans also used religion to create modernity in other parts of the world. Through the need to spread religion like Christianity, they brought civilizations to the uncivilized society. The other factor that the European thinkers used to modernize society was through education Education provided the important skills and knowledge required to change the life style of the society from tradition to modern. Education resulted into the technical evolution that shaped the way of thinking and living in the society. The Europeans realized the potential of the knowledge-based society, which brought new ways of governing and organizing work in modern society.
Education is a major and essential activity in society development and the major transformations that have led to modernity have been brought by education In addition, education made people more innovative as they could apply the knowledge in solving the daily challenges in life which hindered progress. To change the way of thinking of society was impossible without education, by embracing this powerful tool in the society, the European managed to change society from darkness to light. Modernity had both positive and negative effects on society. The introduction of education helped people to communities across different cultures and languages and coexist I understand the knowledge gained from education has a led to innovations that have improved the quality of life. For instance, innovations in medication have reduced the rate of infant mortality while technology has made communication easier. Modernity achieved its purpose of eliminating ignorance in people and encouraging civilization. Other factors that modernity has brought are governance that fosters unity and ensures equal distribution of resources 0 development.
Other results of modernity include democracy, human rights, social institutions and development. Other positive results include the introduction or religion. It created a new form of religion that differentiates a modem individual from a traditional personi religion defined a new form of communication between the modern man and the supernatural and ended evil practices like slavery and human sacrifices. It brought industrialization, which made the life of man easier through production of machines and other equipment that were used in food production like farming. Modernity brought about demographic change 5 as people could migrate and settle in better areas more easily, this is because of the new form of awareness and freedom that came with modernity. Economically, people became more active in activities that gained the society value, This included trading, savings, banking and all new institutions. On the other hand, Modernity had various negative social and economic effects of modernity Modernity wiped out various traditions that existed in several societies initially.
These traditions governed the social order of the communities. In some modernity brought a new form of conflict between the traditional culture and the new modern culture, Marxism defined this as the discontinuity in modernity as it wiped out completely the existing culture replacing it with that of Europe, Every society had it own social structures that based on the tradition, their own form of governance although it was different from the current existing form of government and their own religiont All these structures disappeared with modernity? Modernity also introduced the concept of trust, danger and risk in society. The emergence of social institutions in creating that introduced social class that had negative characteristics. Society now has to embrace the risk and danger in the society that has arisen as people struggle to fulfill their social life.
Modernity introduced the concept of individualism wiping away the initial trust that existed before. Durkheim describes this as the darker side of modernity and its consequences on the society. These new factors have led to people developing sophisticated weapons to safeguard their own interests including the military power and nuclear weapons. Several theories have been developed that define the effects and the consequences of modernity on the society. These theories analyze how the European influence to civilize the entire world brought a new form of life to society and how it has significantly transformed these societies. Examples of these theories are the Marxism theory, conservatism theory, and nationalism theory among several others. The Marxism theory developed Karl Marx explained various ways through which modernity contributed or affected to the current challenges and problems that are experienced in modern life as opposed that before, According to Marxism, modernity brought the capitalist society where every individual was concerned with his/her own welfare as opposed to the welfare and good of the entire society.
Max defined modernity as the European idea of imperialism to control the world in their structures that brought about alienation in the society Marxism discuses that modernity, as designed by Europeans, was only worsened the social problems affecting society by prioritizing economic activities and labor relations ahead of mans social life (Platt,pg.2)t Modernity brought industrial revolution. This resulted into various theories that were developed in the era of the industrial revolution seeking to explain various social problems that were experienced in the society during this period One of the theories is liberalism. According to the theory, individuals and private groups all seek to satisfy independent individual interests The politics is a significant part of the liberal society is to advance social and political interests, According to the theory, there exists no common interest between all individuals or groups in society.
This results to conflict as each individual pursue to satisfy their own interest. The other theory that results from the industrial revolution due to modernity is the nationalism theory According to the theory, every individual seeks to promote his identity first before the identity of others. The theory explains the origin of social—ethnic conflicts that were common in the industrial revolution but are also present in today‘s society. The theory details how the world inherited modernity from the west and together with its related problems. In nationalism, ones individual identity comes first, which is the major cause of social economic conflicts. The other theory that emerged during the time of industrial revolution is the theory of conservatism. This theory assumes that individuals adopt conservative ideologies and behavior due to self—interest, the theory aimed to explain the problem of inequality that was common during the times of industrial revolution it applies to both the individuals and political systems. Some of the factors that drive self-conservatism include self-learning, rational self- interest, and personality goals.
The characteristics of conservatism include the general aggressiveness against various people who have a conflict with the state or the government. It also has a relatively high degree of submission to the social convections and authority. European modernity had both positive and negative effects to the society. Although it has contributed to the world currently as it is, also destroyed several other cultures and traditions that became extinct. These traditions defined life and humanity in their own perspective but were overridden by the European cultures, norms and values because they were more superior. Modernity also presented various challenges and problems that were new to society; They are defined by various theories that detail in social problems that arose due to modernity. Self-centered interests were among the problems in the new capitalist’s society, Individuals sought to satisfy theory own interest first before serving the interests of others.
