This book examines modernity through the prism of the two sovereigns - of the individual and collectivity. The book attempts to provide a stimulating meditation on the difficult and contradictory experiences of European modernity. It uses the collapse of communism in Eastern and central Europe to explore why the institutions and narratives of modernity found it so difficult to deal with problems like the meaning of freedom, the role and status of intellectuals and the legacy of the past.

Postmodernity is often claimed as a great transformation in society and culture. But is it? In this book, Keith Tester casts a cautious eye on such grandiose claims. Tester draws on a series of themes and stories from European sociology and literature to show that many of the great statements from postmodernity are misplaced. Postmodernity is not the harbinger or expression of a new world. It is a reflection of the unresolved paradoxes and possibilities of modernity. The author establishes a clearly expressed and stimulating model of modernity to demonstrate the stakes and consequences of...

Keith Tester explores in this text whether we are capable of coming to terms with the world we have made. He argues that we are not. We are so confused by the wonders and the sights and sounds around us that we all try to build safe little homes in which we can, for a while, be consoled by love which is doomed to fail as soon as it is thought about and by commodities which leave us unsatisfied. We all try to make sense of our humanity by turning elsewhere: to inhuman things. All of us, that is, with enough money. This text offers an interpretation of contemporary cultural and social...