Gino Germani: transition, modernization and civilization. Contributions for a contemporary review.

Abstract

The present work aims to point up the strong interest exposed by Gino Germani for the explanation of the phenomenon of “modernity”, from a review of some fundamental concepts that are present in certain passages of his work. Due to the characteristics of his ouvre (fragmentary, heterogenous, eclectic), to postulate – and justify – the existence of a “germaniann theory of modernity” would imply labours of reconstruction and analysis far beyond the scope of the present work. Nevertheless, in order to achieve our objectives, which in fact are much less ambitous, we asume that mentioned existence as a working hypothesis. We will start our search from a reading interested in the identification of theoretical elements (such as definitions, mutations and/or conceptual transformations) in a key-texts selection. This work is structured around three theoretical movements: from the concept of “transition” to “modernization” and then to “civilization”. Later on we will propose some reflexions and suggest some pending tasks that we believe can be tackled within the framework of Latin American Sociology/ies.