Introduction
This article analyzes the paradoxes of late modernity, in which the individual, liberated from traditional structures, faces the necessity of constantly constructing their own identity. Drawing on the theories of Anthony Giddens, the author examines how disembedding processes affect our ontological security and trust in abstract systems. The thesis posits that the key to balance is a procedural unity of justification, linking self-knowledge with a critique of systems. You will learn how to regain agency and find meaning in your own life within a world of permanent uncertainty.
Giddens’ Modernity: The Infrastructure of Disembedding and Trust
According to Giddens, modernity is a post-traditional order founded on the separation of time and space. This creates an infrastructure of disembedding: mechanisms such as money or expert knowledge detach social relations from local contexts. In this reality, abstract systems become crucial. Our stability depends on trusting their reliability.
When these mechanisms fail, existential anxiety emerges—a state of deep-seated doubt that routine cannot soothe. Ontological security, the sense that the world is meaningful, must be constantly reconstructed. Modern media and technology further redefine time and space, intruding into our daily decisions and creating a new "alphabet of fear."
The Reflexive Project: Body, Identity, and the Pure Relationship
In late modernity, identity is not a given—it is a reflexive project that we must constantly validate. The body ceases to be a biological fact and becomes a system of action subject to the rigors of control. An extreme manifestation of this phenomenon is anorexia, which serves as a pathological attempt to regain agency through radical self-control over one's own biography.
Changes also affect the intimate sphere, where the pure relationship dominates. It is based on mutual opening and authenticity rather than external traditional sanctions. Unfortunately, the market and capitalism actively capture these identity projects. The commodification of lifestyles means that freedom of choice is often confused with the compulsion to constantly consume new options.
Life Politics and Global Challenges in the Age of Algorithms
Traditional emancipatory politics, fighting for freedom from domination, is giving way to life politics. This concerns existential choices: from ecology to reproductive technologies. These global dilemmas manifest differently: Europe focuses on law, the US on the market, Asia on harmony, and Africa on community. However, they are united by the need for a new legitimacy of order.
Modern justification procedures must also encompass algorithms and AI, which create new points of opacity. To prevent modernity from becoming a dogma, a courage of trust combined with prudence is required. We must be able to calibrate our exposure to risk to maintain the capacity for responsible action and the building of lasting bonds in a world of permanent change.
Summary
We live in a world where algorithms recognize the metal in a soup spoon but fail to see the power hidden in a portable genetic lab. We trust abstract systems but lose the ability to define our own criteria for security. In this world, where the future is constantly colonized by risk calculation, will the question of the measure of reason remain painfully open forever? The answer depends on our capacity for reflexive self-control and our courage in building authentic narratives.
📄 Full analysis available in PDF