A Better Modernity Is Possible

Abstract A new and better modernity (a second modernity) is possible. It will require a deep cultural and institutional transformation. It will require a reframing of the way we think about human ideals and about the creative aspect of human nature. To support this we can expect a reorganization of intellectual disciplines, including perhaps the addition of a “new civics,” a “civic studies,” and a new science of ideals. A new modernity will require also new forms of practical theory and a reorganization of the political spectrum. As a contribution, this article proposes a transformative moderation, an alternative to the radicalisms we inherit from the first modernity. This transformative moderation is inspired by Mohandas Gandhi and the various forms of twentieth-century politics that we can call Gandhian: Martin Luther King Jr., Poland’s Solidarity (1980–1981), the multiple nonviolent “color revolutions.” But it is also open to a deep reworking of this Gandhian project. This article outlines core ideas of transformative moderation, including the idea of the project of human development through projects. And it outlines some institutional and cultural details of the project of second modernity.