José Maurício Domingues, PhD in sociology (LSE), is professor at the Institute of Social and Political Studies (IESP-UERJ, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and author of several books on the subject of Sociology: Global Modernity, Development, and Global Civilization (Routledge, 2012), Latin America and Contemporary Modernity (Routledge, 2018), Modernity Reconstructed(University of Wales Press, 2006), Social Creativity, Collective Subjectivity and Contemporary Modernity (Macmillan/Saint Martin's Press, 2000) and Sociological Theory and Collective Subjectivity (MacMillan/Saint Martin's Press, 1995).

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• List of IllustrationsIntroduction1 Vicissitudes and Possibilities of Critical Theory TodayDefining Critical TheoryContemporary ModernityRenewing Critique2 Global Modernity: Levels of Analysis and Conceptual StrategiesIntroductionLevels of AnalysisDescriptionsMiddle-range Analytical ConceptsGeneral Analytical ConceptsA Trend-concept: SecularizationConclusion3 Existential Social Questions, Developmental Trends and ModernityThe Problem Existential Social Questions Existential Questions, Developmental Trends and Modernizing Moves Final Words 4 History, Sociology and Modernity Introduction Historical Sociology and Sociological Theory Theory and Mechanisms Conclusion 5 Realism, Trend-concepts and the Modern State Introduction Beyond Empiricism (and Critical Realism) The Modern State and Modern Society Collective Subjectivity, Mechanisms, Modernization Final Words 6 Family, Modernization and Sociological Theory Two Intertwined Themes Globalization and Modernization The Family, the “dimensions” of Social Life and the “existential questions” Conclusion 7 The Basic Forms of Social Interaction Introduction Principles of Organization, Mechanisms of Coordination Principles of Antagonism, Mechanisms of Opposition Coordination, Antagonism Interactive Inclinations Bases of Justification Conclusion 8 The Imaginary and Politics in Modernity: The Trajectory of Peronism Introduction Theoretical Background Historical Peronism The Argentina of Kirchner and Fernández de Kirchner The Imaginary and Politics in Modernity 9 Critical Social Theory and Developmental Trends, Emancipation and Late Communism Introduction Capitalism, Accumulation and Communism Contemporary Alternatives Tasks of Critical Theory – or Late Twentieth Century Communism ReferencesIndex