In this blog post, we examine whether modern society can overcome the legacy of past totalitarianism and forge a path toward the future.
When referring to the “modern era” as a historical period, it generally denotes the time spanning from the outbreak of World War I and the 1917 Russian Revolution to the present day. The trends of social change during this period and the major events that unfolded within it possess unique characteristics that clearly distinguish them from previous eras. Economic, political, and social factors are intertwined behind these changes, and these complex factors played a crucial role in shaping modern society. It is within these characteristics that we can discover the status and significance of the modern era.
First, fascism and Nazism emerged during this period. These ideologies did not remain mere political doctrines; rather, they combined with cultural and economic elements to exert an even more powerful influence. Thus, they demonstrated that massive bureaucratic organizations and powerful state systems could control the autonomy of individuals and social groups, manipulate the masses, and reign supreme over them. The rise of fascism and Nazism reminded people at the time of how fragile the values of freedom and democracy could be, leading to a heightened recognition of the importance of protecting freedom and rights in modern society. The negative legacy of totalitarian regimes did not end there; it was passed down to various countries around the world, albeit in slightly different forms. In a sense, modern social theory can be seen as having taken root in the attempt to link the causes of the rise of totalitarian regimes and their social consequences to the emergence of mass society.
After World War II, bolstered by the remarkable development of science and technology and the increase in productive capacity, the capitalist system enjoyed relative stability and prosperity. In advanced capitalist nations, the advent of a post-industrial society—far surpassing the stage of industrialization—led some to speak of the “end of ideology.” The socialist bloc, for its part, sought to overcome the contradictions of capitalism and realize an egalitarian society through centralized planned economies and the nationalization of the means of production. Many countries in the Third World also struggled to achieve political democratization and social transformation, using economic development as a springboard. Thus, the course of world history over the past half-century can be described as a grand panorama of coexistence and conflict woven by these different worlds.
However, looking back at the trends of modern society from today’s perspective, the ills of wealth, inequality, and monopoly remain unresolved in capitalist societies. These problems do not stem solely from economic imbalances but also arise as a result of the combination of social and cultural discrimination and oppression. The grand experiment of the socialist bloc ultimately led to the recent rapid collapse of the Eastern European socialist systems due to imbalances and contradictions across political, economic, and social levels. This signifies not only an ideological failure but also the failure of practical political and economic experiments. Meanwhile, the future of the Third World, which seeks to break free from dependency and achieve national self-reliance, is not particularly bright either. Furthermore, regardless of the region, the loss of human agency and human alienation have become defining characteristics of modern society, amidst a wave of bureaucratic organization and massification across all sectors of society.
In such circumstances, regardless of whether one adopts structural functionalism or Marxism, the explanatory and predictive power of grand theories has merely faded. Consequently, the slogan of “postmodernism”—calling for liberation from the shackles modernity has imposed on humanity—has recently been raised. Signs of intellectual and ideological wandering also appear prominent. In short, one cannot help but agree with the diagnosis of a total crisis of modernity.
Does this mean there is no path or goal for modern people to pursue? Are we to simply sink into the atmosphere of fin-de-siècle gloom and despair at the twilight of the 20th century? In other words, is the future of modern society truly closed off?
