Modernization theory and the Islamic State

Anotace: In the 1950s, the modernization theory emerged as an attempt to explain how societies in North America and Western Europe developed. This development was seen as depending “primarily on the importation of technology as well as a number of other political and social changes believed to come about as a result” [CROSSMAN, 2017]. According to social scientists of the mid-twentieth century, modernization is a process that involves industrialization, urbanization, rationalization, bureaucracy, mass consumption, and the adoption of democracy and from that it evolved to contemporary societies as of today. The process of modernization impacted society with the wider access of all sorts. This theory is, however, centralized in Western European ideas conceptualized with a capitalist economy point of view, which can be Eurocentric and do not consider the colonization era, slave labor, environmental sense and sustainability. When it comes to the modernization, the Islamic State is a an example of how modern communications enable spread of beliefs; how modernization enabled both state and religion to increase their sphere of influence and how modern religious organizations contribute to political activity.