Formations of European Modernity

Abstract

In Formations of European Modernity , Gerard Delanty, one of the foremost social theoreticians of Europe, offers a historical-sociological assessment of the idea of Europe as the development of modernity from a cosmopolitan perspective. With this book, based upon a broad and impressive discussion of sociological and historical literature, Delanty somewhat comes back from his earlier constructivist approach in favour of a theory that emphasizes the originality of Europe and assesses European history as the development of modernity, interpreted in a classical neo- Weberian sense. This approach sits uneasily with his ambition to present a cosmopolitan view on Europe, which emphasizes the interactions of Europe with the rest of the world, all the more so as he largely ignores the postcolonial critiques of Eurocentric narratives as well as modernization theories. While Delanty is still quite successful in his assessment of historical diversities in Europe, Formations of European Modernity nevertheless disappoints. While the focus on global interactions is highly commendable, the lack of critical assessment and contextualization leads to a neglect of the fact that Europe often despised the (contribution of the) other. Hence his presentation of cosmopolitan Europe is flawed, and remains if not Eurocentric at least overly Europhile.