Modern Social Imaginaries

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by Charles Taylor

Duke University Press

Due/Published March 2004, 232 pages, paper

ISBN 0822332930

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.

Series: Public Planet

"Charles Taylor presents a fundamental challenge to neoliberal apologists for the new world order--but not only to them. Anyone who wishes, as I do, to defend transcultural political ideals, notions of development, or the like, will have to face his formidable array of hermeneutically inspired reflections on Western modernity's defining cultural formations. His particular take on the 'social imaginary' makes the strongest case there is for the idea of 'multiple modernities.'"--Thomas McCarthy, Northwestern University

Review

For many, Western modernity defines modernity itself. In the past few years, Charles Taylor and other theorists have been challenging this claim by exploring the idea of “multiple modernities.” More precisely, they have reflected on the ways in which non-Western cultures have modernized in ways that differ from the Western experience. In his lucid new work, Charles Taylor takes a step back to reexamine the origins and characteristics of Western modernity. In particular, he looks at the formation of the Western social imaginary, which Taylor defines as “what enables, through making sense of, the practices of modernity.” Taylor begins with a discussion of the development of a new vision of moral order in the West. He then traces how the ideas of early modern Western thinkers gave shape to the fundamental institutions and ideologies of Western modernity: the market economy, the public sphere, and self-governance. Taylor’s incisive look at the philosophical and ideological underpinnings of Western modernity forces a reexamination of the practices and ideas that have become so ingrained in the Western imagination. By casting new light on Western modernity, Taylor reveals it to be one conception among many and not the center from which all other modernities are defined. With his characteristic clear prose and clear thinking, Taylor presents a compelling view of the modern social imaginary.