Berger-modernity, Pluralism, Crisis Of Meaning

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Questionso f cultural orientatiooa re amongt he most urgenri ssues of modern society. lndividualism and pluralism lead to the consequencet hat individualsm ore anclm ore facet he difficulty to define standardsa nd valuesg uiding their own lives. IndividuaLsre quire thesev aluesto be ablet o find orientationi n a situationr vhichi s definedb y optionsa ndt he necessittyo taked ecisions. Three ccntral groups of questionsc lelineatec rucial problems, which the BertelsmannF oumlationi ntendst o tackleb y creatinga newr ,rngco [ pro:cr,s o n cuhuraol rrcntation: - llow cani ndividualrse alizem eaningfulilv esb y chosingfr om thc pluralisticr nultiplicityo f optionsl - How do humanb eingsc oorclinatteh e numerousr olesa nds ocial networks in which they interactl In other words: how do they stabilizcth cir own identity) V/hat value systemsg uide thcir ideaso f good and cvil? In as much :s individuals sharc conrnron value patterns we have to raisca consccutivqeu estion*:' hich communitiesd o suchi ndividuals fonn who sharc similar pattcrns of mearing and judge their lives by the samev alue systcrns?A nd finally: what do these comnrunitiesc ontributc to thc integrationo f the societya s a wholeo r to what extcntd o thcy endangesru chi ntegration? How canm oderns ocietiepsr ovided rer equiredl igaturesl Individualsw ho havc acquircds tableo rienrationsp ossesasn cffcctive panacea gainsct xistentiatlh rcatst o their self-perceptionlh. ey regardt hemsclveas sp eoplew ith an undoubtedid entity. And they availt henxelveosf ethicasl tandardwsh ich enableth em to judge their actionsw ith regardt o their effecto n societya sa whole On all drreel evelsin dividualsh avec easetdo act accordingto what hest raditionallyb eenr egarrleda ss elf-evidenatn dt akcnf or grantcd. Thereforct he losso f the taken-for-grantehda sl ed to the possibility and cven necessittyo decide- hat is meaningfulg, ood and sociaily acceptablcT. his decisioni s an individualo ne and it is debatrblei f thc cohesiono f societys uffcrsa sa consequencoeft hesed ecisionsIn. addrtiont he pluraiistica bundancoef suchd ecisionas llowsc ommunitiest o emergew hiche njoyt he loyaltieos f rheirm emberbs ut do not nccessariltya kei nto eccounth e welfareo f socictya sa whole. 'fhe rangeo f projectso n "culnrralo rientation"s tartedi ts serieso f publicationsw ith a first volumeo n "'lhc losso f orientation- the cohesionc risisi n moderns ociety"( in Germanl anguageo nly). In a next phaseo f the field of projectsw c commissionead number of expcrtisesA. s a first result, Peter llerger (Boston)a nd 'lhomas Lucknrann (Konstanz) present their analysis of the mechanisms which leadt o a crisiso f meaningin nodern societyl.h is study emergedfr om a contexto f projectsw hich ared ealingw ith orienta tion in the immediates ocialn eighborhooda ndw ith the orientation by communicationin a workplacc environmenta nd in company hierarchieso. ther sub-projectfso cuso n the legitimacyo f political iction and the limits to statec ontrol of socialp rocesseosr on new challengedsu e to the everi ncreasintc omplexityo f knowledgea nd the flow of informationw hich moderni ndividualsfa ce. PeterB ergera nd ThomasL ucknrannc ount amongt he ceusefso r the modernc risiso f meaningp rocessocsf m odernizatiopnL, uralism and particularlyw ith regardt o Buropeans ocieties- secularization. fhjs leadsto the conscqucncteh at the validityo f sharedm eaning is difficult to mailtain for largerg roupso f individualsin society. Patterns of meaning are being shared and maintained by smaller communitiesI.t is thereforec rucialt o distinguishin which way in dividualsu nite to form thesec ommunitiesI.n addition,a ll of them relatet o the functionalm acros ysternsin societyl ike politics,e conomy ands cienceIn. teractionb etweenth esele velsa ndc ommunities is beingr egulatedb y intermediaryi nstitutions,m ediac ommunication andm oralizings tatementisn everydayli fe. It w