Orientalism, Postmodernism, and Globalism
Bryan Turner
The issue of Islamic modernization may be understood initially within the
framework of Max Weber's sociology of the process of rationalization which
focused on the paradoxical relationship between the process of rationalization
and the problem of meaninglessness. The argument here is that Weber's sociology
provides an anticipation of the current contrast between the programme of
modernization and the condition of postmodernism. Within this framework, Islamic
fundamentalism is seen as a reaction against cultural and social differentiation
and fragmentation. More specifically fundamentalism is an attempt at
de-differentiation. However, it is important to avoid a sociological orientation
which considers Islam in isolation from other world religions, because the major
religions are necessarily involved in global processes. The emergence of
universalistic standards in cultural and political life is consequently analyzed
in relation to the world religions (more specifically the Abrahamic faiths).