Modern Social Imaginaries

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Essence in 8 words: Tracing the history of Western modernity's evolution.

Modern Social Imaginaries is an insightful read that traces the development of Western modernity and provides a framework for understanding the different forms modernity has taken worldwide. Taylor's ideas of the social imaginary, economy, public sphere, and self-governance offer a fresh perspective on Western modern society's structure. Anyone interested in identity formation, multiculturalism, secularism, and modernity will find this book enlightening and insightful.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

Modern Social Imaginaries

Regular price
Unit price
per
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ISBN: 9780822332930

Description

One of the most influential philosophers in the English-speaking world, Charles Taylor is internationally renowned for his contributions to political and moral theory, particularly to debates about identity formation, multiculturalism, secularism, and modernity. In Modern Social Imaginaries, Taylor continues his recent reflections on the theme of multiple modernities. To account for the differences among modernities, Taylor sets out his idea of the social imaginary, a broad understanding of the way a given people imagine their collective social life. Retelling the history of Western modernity, Taylor traces the development of a distinct social imaginary. Animated by the idea of a moral order based on the mutual benefit of equal participants, the Western social imaginary is characterized by three key cultural forms-the economy, the public sphere, and self-governance. Taylor's account of these cultural formations provides a fresh perspective on how to read the specifics of Western modernity: how we came to imagine society primarily as an economy for exchanging goods and services to promote mutual prosperity, how we began to imagine the public sphere as a metaphorical place for deliberation and discussion among strangers on issues of mutual concern, and how we invented the idea of a self-governing people capable of secular "founding" acts without recourse to transcendent principles. Accessible in length and style, Modern Social Imaginaries offers a clear and concise framework for understanding the structure of modern life in the West and the different forms modernity has taken around the world.


Author: Charles Taylor
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 232
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication Date: 01 Feb 2004
 

Essence in 8 words: Tracing the history of Western modernity's evolution.

Modern Social Imaginaries is an insightful read that traces the development of Western modernity and provides a framework for understanding the different forms modernity has taken worldwide. Taylor's ideas of the social imaginary, economy, public sphere, and self-governance offer a fresh perspective on Western modern society's structure. Anyone interested in identity formation, multiculturalism, secularism, and modernity will find this book enlightening and insightful.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.