The Imagination of Modernity and Pre-Modernity in the 1990s

Abstract

The event in 1989 dealt a blow to radicalism and the Enlightenment ideal. The longing to participate and contribute to the cultural discourse subsided. As the economy rapidly developed, society became more open and plural than before. Cultural discourse was less politicized. Nevertheless, the advancement of market economy without the necessary change of political institutions created serious social problems. Prevalent commercialism and the tendency towards commoditization of many aspects of social life pushed intellectual inquiry almost to the margin of society. Yet the intellectual discourse for modernity survived.