The Modernity of War: Modernization Theory and the Problem of Violence

In this article the fact of war in the modern age and the interpretations of this fact by intellectuals are used as a probe to discuss the adequateness of modernization theory for understanding the social developments of our time. The author sketches the liberal and Enlightenment dream of a modernity free of violence and then briefly develops steps of a critical revision of this view by discussing the role of defensive modernization; the connection of modernization, war and revolution; the emergence of Fascism from the spirit of war; the role of war in the emergence of modernity, and the impact of war and civil war on the essence of modernity. The article ends with some conclusions for a revision and `relativization' of modernization theory.