On the basis of the Turkish experience of modernity, this book has thus far argued that, to a considerable extent, existing social theory is invalid for analysing ‘later modernities’. Some explicit lessons from the Turkish experience now need to be drawn in order to strengthen the proposition that the concept of varieties of modernity should be used to explore ‘other’ experiences of modernity. In this concluding chapter, therefore, I consider what can be learned from the Turkish experience for a social theory of modernity.

The Concept of Later Modernities

Since a plurality of histories, civilizations, modernizing agents and their projects indicates the existence of multiple modernities, the problematization of the assumed equivalence between modernity and the West is unavoidable. When social science accepts the West as another civilization among many, it can be recognized that ambitions to ‘totalize’ the world on the basis of Western values have had imperialist ambitions. It is because of this that Western modernity necessarily faced legitimate resistance. However, Eastern civilizations entered into an era of self-questioning partly because of the challenge posed by the imperialist intentions of Western modernity. It is undeniable that the idea of modernity in Eastern societies is imported from the West. Nevertheless, the fact that modernity first emerged in Western Europe does not guarantee that Western European countries provide the only instances of genuine or successful modernities. For example, one could show that American modernity is more advanced than European modernity, although the idea of modernity in America was imported from Europe.

In short, modernity should not be viewed as the equivalent of the West. Once the West is seen as a civilization among many, it is necessary to submit to the truth: the West is not the only specific context in which modernity can exist; there are other modernities. The concept of later modernities refers to an important category in terms of multiple modernities. The history of modernity could, in one way, be read as a history of tensional relations between East and West. Since Eastern modernities emerged after Western modernity, they may justifiably be termed later modernities. Challenged and shaken, the East has responded to the rise of the West with the creation of distinct modernities: those of Russia, China, Japan and Turkey.