Giddens’ Theory of Modernization

The paper aims at critically introducing those aspects of Giddens’ theory of late modernity, which analyze the transformation of intimacy and identity construction. First, the difficulties of maintaining ontological security, fighting the loss of meaning and handling the challenges of shame in post-traditional context are analyzed. Second, the relevance of intimate relationships for the process of identity construction is analyzed in the context of the transforming intimacy and sexuality. Third the potential individual and social pathologies are introduced including dependencies and fundamentalisms as inadequate answers to the challenges of late modernity, while pure relationships are introduced as preconditions of the democratization and the emergence of life politics.