Passage Two

1．There have been numerous ways of understanding what modernity is，particularly in the field of sociology．A wide variety of terms are used to describe the society，social life，driving force，symptomatic mentality，or some other defining aspects of modernity．They include:bureaucracy，disenchantment of the world，rationalization，secularization，alienation，commodification，decontextualization，individualism，subjectivism，linear progression，objectivism，universalism，reductionism，chaos，mass society，industrial society，homogenization，unification，hybridization，diversification，democratization，centralization，hierarchical organization，mechanization，totalitarianism，and so on．Modernity may be considered“marked and defined by an obsession with‘evidence’”，visuality，and visibility．Modernity is often characterized by comparing modern societies to premodern or postmodern ones;to an extent，it is reasonable to doubt the very possibility of a descriptive concept that can adequately capture diverse realities of societies of various historical contexts，especially non-European ones，let alone a three-stage model of social evolution from premodernity to postmodernity．

2．However，in terms of social structure，many of the defining events and characteristics listed above stem from a transition from relatively isolated local communities to a more integrated large-scale society．Understood this way，modernization might be a general，abstract process which can be found in many different parts of histories，rather than a unique event in Europe．In general，large-scale integration involves: increased movement of goods，capital，people，and information among formerly separate areas，and increased influence that reaches beyond a localarea;increasedformalizationofthosemobileelements，development of‘circuits’on which those elements and influences travel，and standardization of many aspects of the society in general that is conducive to the mobility;increased specialization of different segments of society，such as the division of labor，and interdependency among areas．

3．Seemingly contradictory characteristics ascribed to modernity are often different aspects of this process．For example，unique local culture is invaded and lost by the increased mobility of cultural elements，such as recipes，folktales，and hit songs，resulting in a cultural homogenization across localities，but the repertoire of available recipes and songs increases within an area because of the increased interlocal movement，resulting in a diversification within each locality．(This is manifest especially in large metropolises where there are many mobile elements．) Centralized bureaucracy and hierarchical organization of governments and firms grows in scale and power in an unprecedented manner，leading some to lament the stifling，cold，rationalist or totalitarian nature of modern society．Yet individuals，often as replaceable components，may be able to move in those social subsystems，creating a sense of liberty，dynamic competition and individualism for others．This is especially the case when a modern society is compared with premodern societies，in which the family and social class one is born into shapes one's lifecourse to a greater extent．

4．These social changes are somewhat common to many different levels of social integration，and not limited to what happened to the West European societies in a specific time period．In other words，while modernity has been characterized in many seemingly contradictory ways，many of those characterizations can be reduced to a relatively simple set of concepts of social change．At the same time，however，such an understanding of modernity is certainly not satisfactory to many，because it fails to explain the global influence of West European and American societies since the Renaissance．Mere large-scale integration of local communities，seen in the Macedon of Alexander the Great or the Mongolia of the Khans，would not necessarily result in the same magnitude of influence as the West European modernization．What has made Western Europe so special?

5．There have been two major answers to this question．First，an internal factor is that only in Europe，through the Renaissance humanists and early modern philosophers and scientists，rational thinking came to replace many intellectual activities that had been under heavy influence of convention，superstition，and religion．(This line of answer is most frequently associated with Max Weber，a sociologist who is known to have pursued the answer to the above question．)Second，an external factor triggering the later modernity is that colonization，starting as early as the Age of Discovery，created exploitative relations between European countries and their colonies．(This view has notably been explored by the world systems theory of Immanuel Wallerstein^[3]．)It is also notable that such commonly-observed features of many modern societies as the nuclear family，slavery，gender roles，and nation states do not necessarily fit well with the idea of rational social organization in which components such as people are treated equally．While many of these features have been dissolving，histories seem to suggest those features may not be mere exceptions to the essential characteristics of modernization，but necessary parts of it．

Questions for Understanding

1．What is supposedly the title for this passage?

2．If，according to the author in paragraph 1，the societal development can be divided into three stages，what do you think are the major features of the middle phase?

3．According to paragraph 2，does a modern society become more diffused or integrated?In what way?

4．What are the contradictions in a modern society?Give examples．

5．What does the author intend to manifest with the examples of Macedon of Alexander the Great and the Mongolia of the Khans?