Jeffrey Alexander, a prominent sociologist and social theorist:

Inside the culture and structure of modernity, good and evil are tensely intertwined. We should not be naïve about the evils of modernity. Modernity’s contradictions cannot be resolved in some magisterial new synthesis. It is a dangerous delusion to think modernity can eliminate evil; new kinds of dangers are produced that challenge new kinds of good. Social theory must accept modernity as Janus-faced. We need to theorize the dangerous frictions of modernity and also lay out new lines for social amelioration and emotional repair. We need to be able to see backward and forward at the same time.

Alexander, Jeffrey. 2013. The Dark Side of Modernity. Polity. (p. 4)

See also: Alexander, Jeffrey. 2025. Civil Repair. Polity.

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