The discourse on modernity within the social sciences worldwide has reached a new level of intensity since the 1980s. This discourse was partly stimulated by the criticisms of postmodern theorists. In a certain sense, it was the diagnosis of ‘postmodernity’ which led scholars to reflect on ‘modernity’. The assertion made by theorists of postmodernity that the conception of rationality characteristic of modernity is inevitably linked with aspects of power and can therefore by no means lay claim to universality was bound to inspire contestation. As we saw towards the end of Lecture X, authors such as Jürgen Habermas (The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity) refused to accept this assumption, sparking off a complex philosophical dispute over the foundations of modernity. But the discourse on modernity was not carried on solely with philosophical arguments. It also raised genuine social scientific questions, in as much as new problems arose in modern societies or there was a greater awareness of certain (old) problems than ever before. Sociology at least produced a number of spectacular diagnoses of the contemporary era, which were discussed not only within the discipline but which appealed to a broad public and demonstrated that, despite all the talk of disciplinary crisis, sociology can still contribute highly interesting analyses of contemporary societies. In this lecture we shall deal primarily with three authors who produced powerful diagnoses of the present era in the 1980s, whose effects continue to be felt to this day.