Realism and Trend-Concepts, the Political System and Modernity

This paper resumes the discussion of modernity relating it closely to debates in the philosophy of science, proposing a specific way of relating empirical perspectives and theoretical construction. It draws upon Bhaskar’s work, critically departing however from some key elements in his conceptions, towards a more process-oriented and anti-reification demarche as well as with the intention of developing a systematic analytical strategy. Marx and Parsons are mobilized to achieve this reorientation. The paper aims at showing that trend-concepts should not be contemplated according to empiricist standpoints, with the notion of mechanism receiving pride of place in its strategy. It then applies its resulting perspective to a substantive issue, namely, the development of the modern state, whose contradictory dynamic is brought out.