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A society on its improbable path to modernity: the book examines social structures and their transformation, linking this to media theory and self-reflection in social philosophy. The nature of modern society in Europe at the end of the 18th century was as improbable as it was unique in world histor...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | German |
| Published: |
Wallstein Verlag
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | ONIX_20260529T115621_9783835381230_13 |
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| Summary: | A society on its improbable path to modernity: the book examines social structures and their transformation, linking this to media theory and self-reflection in social philosophy. The nature of modern society in Europe at the end of the 18th century was as improbable as it was unique in world history. The book analyses the emergence and establishment of fact-based structures from within the pre-modern hierarchical social order of the late Middle Ages. It does not follow any theory of modernisation or progress, but rather traces the problems that were overcome, and the coincidences and interactions that played a part in this. The account combines media history, communication theory and the structural history of social systems with a surprising interpretation of premodern social philosophy. In this way, it also contributes to the clarification and historicisation of fundamental sociological concepts and categories. In his social history, the author paints a broad panorama ranging from the family through guilds, feudal administration, enterprises, social protest and religious movements to functional spheres such as law and the economy. In this way, the rationality of modernity becomes tangible as the result of institutional interrelationships, which found their counterpart in a new anthropology of humankind. Changes in structures necessitated different ways of understanding and describing the world, and vice versa. |
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