Tradition vs. Modernity : The Continuing Dichotomy of Values in European Society

The modernisation theories developed in the 50s and 60s suggested that societies were converging toward modern values, gradually abandoning their traditional values. This convergence idea is re-examined in the following article within the context of European countries and on the basis of processe...

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Auteurs principaux: Galland, Olivier, Lemel, Yannick
Format: Article ou chapitre numérique
Langue:Français
Publié: 2009
Accès en ligne:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
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spelling cairn-RFS_495_0153RFS1Revue française de sociologie https://shs.cairn.info/revue-francaise-de-sociologie-1-2008-5-page-153?lang=en https://doi.org/10.3917/rfs.495.0153 Tradition vs. Modernity : The Continuing Dichotomy of Values in European Society Galland, OlivierLemel, Yannick2009 fre Revue française de sociologie | 49 | 5 | 2009-01-21 | p. 153-186 | 0035-2969 RFS_49574 The modernisation theories developed in the 50s and 60s suggested that societies were converging toward modern values, gradually abandoning their traditional values. This convergence idea is re-examined in the following article within the context of European countries and on the basis of processed Values surveys. A set of attitude scales was constructed and then analysed through multivariate techniques. Two main results emerge from this analysis. First, it appears that, regardless of date and country, the Europeans’ values are still structured around a traditionalism axis. This result obviously contradicts the theories of convergence towards modernity, theories that are strongly criticised. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the counterpart of traditionalism–need it be called “modernity”?– and on the relations between economic and moral attitudes. Second, religiosity is strongly linked to this structuring of values but it mainly opposes European members of whatever religious denomination to non-members, rather than–as is often imagined– Catholics to Protestants. All in all, the tension between tradition and modernity remains at the core of the value system of European societies.Cairn free access
language Français
format Article ou chapitre numérique
building 0/Bibliothèque numérique/
1/Bibliothèque numérique/Cairn/
description The modernisation theories developed in the 50s and 60s suggested that societies were converging toward modern values, gradually abandoning their traditional values. This convergence idea is re-examined in the following article within the context of European countries and on the basis of processed Values surveys. A set of attitude scales was constructed and then analysed through multivariate techniques. Two main results emerge from this analysis. First, it appears that, regardless of date and country, the Europeans’ values are still structured around a traditionalism axis. This result obviously contradicts the theories of convergence towards modernity, theories that are strongly criticised. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the counterpart of traditionalism–need it be called “modernity”?– and on the relations between economic and moral attitudes. Second, religiosity is strongly linked to this structuring of values but it mainly opposes European members of whatever religious denomination to non-members, rather than–as is often imagined– Catholics to Protestants. All in all, the tension between tradition and modernity remains at the core of the value system of European societies.
author Galland, Olivier
Lemel, Yannick
spellingShingle Galland, Olivier
Lemel, Yannick
Tradition vs. Modernity : The Continuing Dichotomy of Values in European Society
author_facet Galland, Olivier
Lemel, Yannick
author_sort Galland, Olivier
title Tradition vs. Modernity : The Continuing Dichotomy of Values in European Society
title_short Tradition vs. Modernity : The Continuing Dichotomy of Values in European Society
title_full Tradition vs. Modernity : The Continuing Dichotomy of Values in European Society
title_fullStr Tradition vs. Modernity : The Continuing Dichotomy of Values in European Society
title_full_unstemmed Tradition vs. Modernity : The Continuing Dichotomy of Values in European Society
title_sort tradition vs. modernity : the continuing dichotomy of values in european society
publishDate 2009
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url https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://shs.cairn.info/revue-francaise-de-sociologie-1-2008-5-page-153?lang=en
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.3917/rfs.495.0153
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