Assignment Code: MHI-02/AST/TMA/2022-23

Course Code: MHI-02

Assignment Name: Modern World

Year: 2022-2023

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Total Marks: 100

Note: Attempt any five questions. The assignment is divided into two Sections 'A' and 'B'. You have to attempt at least two questions from each section in about 500 words each. All questions carry equal marks.

Section – A

Q1. Explain the different ways in which the Renaissance contributed towards the making of a new world. 20

Ans) The 15th and 16th centuries are known as the Renaissance, a time in European history that marks the passage from the Middle Ages to modernity. The Renaissance was characterised by an attempt to revive and outdo the concepts and accomplishments of classical antiquity. It followed the Late Middle Ages Crisis and was marked by significant social change. Proponents of a "long Renaissance" may place its start in the 14th century and end in the 17th century in addition to the conventional periodization.

The traditional perspective places more emphasis on the Renaissance's early modern components and contends that it was a break with the past, but many historians today place more emphasis on its mediaeval components and contend that it was a continuation of the Middle Ages.

The Early Renaissance, which began in the 15th century, and the Italian Proto-Renaissance, which began around 1250 or 1300, overlap significantly with the Late Middle Ages, which are typically dated from c. 1250 to 1500. The Middle Ages were a lengthy era marked by gradual change, much like the modern era, and the Renaissance, which served as a transitional period between the two, shares many characteristics with both, particularly the late and early sub-periods.

The concept of Roman humanities and the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy, such as that of Protagoras, who said that "man is the measure of all things," served as the intellectual foundation for the Renaissance. This new way of thinking showed up in the fields of literature, science, politics, and architecture. Early examples include the refinement of perspective in oil painting and the resurgence of concrete production knowledge. The changes of the Renaissance were not uniform throughout Europe; the first signs can be found in Italy as early as the late 13th century, particularly in the writings of Dante and the paintings of Giotto. However, the development of metal movable type sped up the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century.

Early modern European intellectual life was significantly impacted by the Renaissance as a cultural movement. Its influence was felt in art, architecture, philosophy, literature, music, science, technology, politics, and other fields of intellectual inquiry. It originated in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe by the 16th century. Humanist research methods were used by Renaissance scholars as they looked for realism and human emotion in their works of art.

The Latin literary, historical, and oratorical works of antiquity were sought after by Renaissance humanists like Poggio Bracciolini in Europe's monastic libraries, while the Fall of Constantinople (1453) sparked a wave of émigré Greek scholars who brought priceless manuscripts in ancient Greek, many of which had vanished into obscurity in the West. As opposed to the mediaeval scholars of the 12th century Renaissance, who had focused on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural sciences, philosophy, and mathematics rather than such cultural texts, the Renaissance scholars were distinguished by their new focus on literary and historical texts.

All things considered, the Renaissance can be seen as an effort by intellectuals to study and advance the secular and materialistic, both through the revival of antiquated ideas and through new ways of approaching the mind. Some academics, like Rodney Stark, downplay the Renaissance in favour of earlier innovations made by Italian city-states in the High Middle Ages, which married democratic governance, Christian thought, and the emergence of capitalism.

Q2. Discuss the development of modern society following industrialization and modernization. 20

Ans) Western industrialization quickly rose to become the benchmark for the entire world, and western modernity was held up as the standard for all other countries. Before they gained independence, colonies or clients of Western powers were "developed" in this way. It seems that industrial society was the only polity that could function in the modern era and that only industrial societies were capable of acting as global agents. As a result of being degraded by the West in the middle of the 19th century, Japan industrialised and rose to become one of the most powerful societies on earth.

The experience of Japan demonstrated that there were multiple paths to modernity. Individual initiative and the free-market economy had served as the foundation for industrialization in Britain, Western Europe, and the USA. In order to protect domestic industry, the state and political elites in Germany and Japan played a significant role in organising and planning development as well as limiting foreign access to domestic markets. After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the one-party state's authoritarian modernization model emerged.

Modernization, according to Max Weber, is a process that "disenchants the world." The modern scientific interpretation of nature is used to replace all supernatural entities and symbols that pre-modern cultures used to explain social and natural phenomena. The scientific method is accepted as the only source for valid laws and regularities that can explain phenomena. This secularisation process, which was first noticed in Europe at the end of the 17th century, tends to replace religious institutions, beliefs, and practises in favour of reason and science. Secularization was brought to the non-European world through colonialism. The public may hold traditional religious beliefs alongside scientific ones, and religion has not been driven out of society. However, religious phenomena no longer play a significant role in society as a whole. The use of religious symbolism by right-wing political movements around the world is a real strategy used to stoke support for conservative policies. However, this tendency does not change the fact that religious institutions no longer hold sway over political decision-making in the modern state.

Many more spheres are impacted by the rationalisation process, including the capitalist economy and its calculation of profit and loss. For Max Weber, it meant putting in place a logical system of laws and government in contemporary society. He believed that the impersonal, impartial rule of rationally formulated laws and procedures—the bureaucratic system—represented the pinnacle of the rational principle. Due to bureaucracy's dominance and the scientific method's success in social life, kinship or cultural considerations were replaced with a modern counterpart that was deemed to be "irrational" in the past. Weber believed that trained officials were "the pillar both of the modern state and of the economic life of the West" despite being aware that bureaucracy could be despotic in practise. Weber emphasised that modern rationalisation did not result in all populations becoming intelligent or reasonable, though.

It was discovered that industrialism had spawned new areas of poverty. In the industrialised world, between 15 and 20 percent of the population lived permanently below (as defined by official statistics) poverty levels. Did the growth of industrialism itself produce a new class of underprivileged people unable to compete with the "rationality" of the new order? There seems to have been no other option for the failed and the rejected than to become claimants and pensioners of the state after the communal and kinship supports of the past withered away.

Q3. Define Democracy. Write a note on the challenges to democracy. 20

Ans) For two reasons, this celebration was out of the ordinary. First of all, while commemorating the anniversaries of statesmen, revolutions, and the founding of nations is quite common, no other political ideal has ever been honoured in this way. Second, democracy as it exists today differs significantly from that which existed in ancient Greece, 2500 years ago. Although we are primarily concerned with modern democratic ideas and practises, it would be helpful to briefly discuss the key characteristics of ancient Athens’s democracy, which is widely regarded as Greece's most stable, long-lasting, and ideal form of democracy.

It makes sense that the word democracy itself has Greek roots. Demos (meaning the people) and kratos are combined to form the Greek word democratic (meaning power or rule). In light of this, democracy in both the ancient and modern worlds is based on the idea that the people should rule themselves, whether directly through direct participation or indirectly through elected representatives. The crucial distinction, of course, lies in how "the people" were conceived of. Three main groups of people were specifically excluded from the ancient Greek concept of "demos," including slaves, women, and metrics (the foreigners who lived and worked in the city-state). This indicated that the citizen body's membership represented just under 25% of the total population.

Challenges

Development

There is no conclusive evidence linking democracy and development, despite the fact that many academics have attempted to do so by examining the degree to which democracy promotes or impedes development. While the East Asian economies' economic successes are attributed to their lack of democracy, the adoption of democracy is sometimes blamed for the slow rate of development in India. Scholarly comparative studies, however, have produced contradictory findings and cannot definitively prove whether democracy promotes or impedes development. Developmental outcomes are significantly influenced by historical context, economics, and society.

Diversity

The classical democratic theory was undecided on the subject of cultural diversity until the middle of the 20th century. The civil rights movement in the US posed the first significant threat to pluralism in a liberal polity. Indigenous people in Australia, Canada, and the United States have also recently called for cultural recognition and community rights, as have immigrant populations in Europe. These claims have highlighted a critical flaw in democratic theory, which prides itself on its dedication to individual equality but remains insensitive to diversity and thus falls short in its respect for cultural plurality.

Gender

It is noteworthy that granting the right to vote to women has been a slow process, even in Europe, the birthplace of liberal-democratic theory. Only in 1971 did Switzerland grant women the right to vote. Women in Kuwait still don't have access to this freedom today. Women continue to be underrepresented in politics and the economy in many nations where they do enjoy democratic political rights. According to estimates from 1993, women only owned 1% of the world's property and made 10% of its income. Only 5% of cabinet ministers and national policymakers are women, and only 4% of the world's heads of state are female. They made up only 10% of national legislatures.

Section – B

Q6. Define and distinguish between Imperialism and Colonialism. What were the different stages of Colonialism? 20

Ans) Equally significant is the difference between colonialism and imperialism. The histories of specific colonies and imperialism are not the same. While colonialism is the dominant system in the colonies, imperialism is a uniquely European phenomenon. Another argument is that studying one empire in isolation would be useless because European imperial history was fundamentally united. While colonialism refers to the impact on the colony, when we study imperialism, we look at the impact on the metropolis. The benefits of the empire to the mother country included the development of advanced military technology, mechanisms of control like the army and bureaucracy, and disciplines like anthropology, as well as colonial wealth that funded the industrial revolution.

Stages of Colonialism

First Stage: Monopoly Trade and Plunder Colonialism

There were two main goals for the first phase. In-country manufactured goods were to be purchased at a discount in order to increase trade profitability. Local and European rivals were to be excluded from this. While competing European companies were decimated in war, territorial conquest prevented local traders from participating in the lucrative trade. Thus, trade monopoly was a hallmark of the first stage.

Second, the colony's political conquest made it possible to plunder and seize surplus. For instance, a sizeable amount of wealth was transferred from India to Britain during the first stage. It represented two to three percent of British national income at the time. The established economic and political systems were replaced by colonialism. In the first stage, there were no fundamental adjustments made.

Second Stage: Era of Free Trade

The colony's markets for manufactured goods were of interest to the industrial bourgeoisie of the city. In order to do this, the colony had to increase exports in order to pay for the importation of manufactured goods. In order to reduce reliance on non-Empire sources, the metropolitan bourgeoisie also wanted to develop the colony as a producer of raw materials. The colony would also be able to pay for the high salaries and profits of merchants if its exports increased. The industrial bourgeoisie opposed appropriating surplus through plunder because they believed it would kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.

Third Stage: Era of Finance Capital

Intense competition for markets, sources of raw materials, and food grains was evident in the third stage. The large-scale accumulation of capital in the city required the search for international investment opportunities. Where the imperial powers had colonies, these interests were best protected. To safeguard the interests of the imperial power, this resulted in more stringent control over the colony.

The climate of ideology was one of opposition. Intense control became more necessary. Self-government was no longer discussed; instead, benevolent despotism emerged as the new ideology, which viewed the colonial people as helpless children who would always require parental guidance. Due to overexploitation in earlier stages, the colony was unable to absorb metropolitan capital or increase its raw material exports, which presented a significant contradiction in this stage. To solve this issue, a limited modernization strategy was used, but colonialism's logic remained unaffected. The colony's underdevelopment became a barrier to further exploitation.

Q8. Write a note on political and cultural legacy of the French Revolution. 20

Ans) With the emergence of revolutionary politics in the last third of the eighteenth century, scholars have recently expanded the scope of the French Revolution. Modern ideas about politics were transformed into a tool for reshaping society through the development of new political rhetoric and new symbolic forms of political practise. The French people firmly believed that they could create a new national community devoid of historical precedent, based on reason and natural law, in the spirit of enlightenment. Such lofty goals required new political approaches to be realised.

The Revolution tipped the balance in favour of society against the state in the political dialogue between societies and their states. The king presided over the previous regime; the Revolution made it the work of the people. France transformed from a "kingdom of subjects" into a country of citizens. The Revolution established equality; the previous society was based on privilege. The Revolution gave rise to a radical break with the past as an ideology. The power of the new ideology overcame everything, including the economy, society, and politics. According to Keith Michael Baker, the revolution was a moment when social relations were reconstituted and the relationship between the individual, community, and state underwent a significant transformation. The Revolution created new terms for both politics and culture as it went along.

It developed its own symbols, religious overtones, and new definitions of war and patriotism.

The Ideas of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity

It's true that concepts like liberty, equality, fraternity, and others had occasionally existed in very muddled or abstract forms in many societies, but during the French Revolution, these concepts became the guiding principles for legislators. All men were deemed to be "free and equal" at birth by the American Revolution of 1776. All people are created equal and have certain natural rights that are unalienable and unassailable, according to the Congress of the Representatives of the Thirteen Colonies. However, the American Constitution remained silent on the important issue of slavery and delayed the demand for them to be granted the right to vote. During the Civil War, the issue of slavery had caused division in the American nation (1 861 - 1865). These concepts emerged in France as the defining ones that had an impact on not only western civilization but also the histories of the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe, America, and Asia.

The Concept of Republican State

The revolutionary decade is regarded as the beginning of modern politics, which gave rise to terms like "right" and "left." The French Revolution had created a liberal-conservative divide in society. With broad suffrage, individual rights, freedom of speech and expression, and the election of the head of State, the liberals generally shifted toward republicanism. Conservatives opposed change and placed a strong emphasis on obedience, obligations, and social hierarchy. The Revolution's unprecedented challenge crystallised the conservatives' political philosophy. Many of them were opposed to reforms that were based on Enlightenment principles. Both of these ideologies influenced popular movements, sharply dividing Europe in the nineteenth century along antisocial lines. In opposition to the English preference for monarchy and conservatism, the French exported the idea of republicanism.