The rise of the ‘social sphere’ can be taken as a major turning point in the emergence of modernity. From polity to household, a realm of human activity understood as the ‘social’ began to emerge in the late eighteenth century alongside the development of modernity. The rise of ‘society’ as a new type of collectivity was, in fact, focused on by some eighteenth-century thinkers. As Wagner (1999a: 216) considers: ‘In some late eighteenth-century theories, “civil society” came to be seen as a phenomenon that was different from the state but different from the individual households as well. And it is here that the story of “society” as a scientific object starts.’

We cannot discuss the rise of society without considering changing features in the state system. The socialization of individuals in a larger context, such as society, needs a ‘civilizing state’. The management of an entire population from a single base is a prominent factor in the standardization of practices and identities. That is to say, modernity in one important way increases the dependence of people on others (Arendt, 1958). And in this process, the modern, centralizing state possesses a crucial power. Additionally, economic development requires the integration of local communities on the basis of a centre and thus the state needs to be a highly centralized power in order to manage this integrated population. Rationality comes to be seen as a characteristic of the state, since a social body is thought to be governed by a state that does not operate by means of kinship, emotions and friendship. These are, therefore, excluded from the socio-political sphere.

It is because of the relative autonomy of the state that, in social analyses, ‘civil society’ was invented as a entity distinct from the state (see Gellner, 1995; Hall, 1995). The state appeared to be a neutral sphere over society, not favouring a particular group or class. Being responsible for all members of society meant being a power that could be exercised over an entire population in order to bring about ‘civilized’ human beings. In other words, Hegel's state, the modern state, used Reason to reconcile antagonisms in society and it thus understood itself as the enlightening agent of humanity.