Medical doctors driving taxis architects selling beer on street corners scientific institutes
closed down amid rusting carcasses of industrial plants-these images became common at the turn
of the 21st century in many once modern civilized countries. In quite a few of them long-time
neighbours came to kill each other apparently motivated by the newly discovered differences of
religion language or origin. Civil nationalism gave way to tribal ethnic and confessional
conflict. Rational arguments of geopolitical nature have been replaced by claims of
self-righteousness and moral superiority.These snapshots are not random. They are
manifestations of a phenomenon called demodernization that can be observed from the banks of
the Neva to the banks of the Euphrates from the deserts of Central Asia to the English
countryside and all the way to the city of Detroit. Demodernization is a growing trend today
but it also has a history.Seventeen scholars including historians philosophers sociologists
and archaeologists offer their well substantiated views of demodernization. The book is
divided into three parts dedicated to conceptual debates as well as historical and contemporary
cases. It book provides a wealth of empirical materials and conceptual insights that provide a
multi-faceted approach to demodernization.
