Global modernity: Levels of analysis and conceptual strategies

Abstract

This article tackles some methodological issues in sociological theory, in particular as a way to resume the discussion of modernity with a systematic intent. Descriptions and descriptive concepts are distinguished from middle-range analytical categories, which are distinguished from general analytical categories. History and evolution are also included methodologically in the analysis. Trend-concepts, which imply the development of some features of modernity in the long run, have not been adequately dealt with by sociology recently, so their status therefore remains undefined. It is these that offer the focus of this article. This is discussed initially in general terms, and the theme is then deepened through an analysis of secularization processes, drawing on the concept of collective subjectivity in order to take the discussion beyond individual action and structural-functional features. Analytical concepts receive pride of place in the methodological strategies suggested in the article.