Morality and Freedom in Contemporary Society: Crisis of Values and a New Idea of Freedom

Freedom is central to the process  of modernization, being  one of its main values,  along with equality and solidarity. It has always been linked to the question of civil, political and social rights.  My thesis is that in late modernity, with the radicalization of individualism and the crisis of values, the idea of freedom has changed. It now means absence of limits, pursuing only one's own interests without considering the consequences for others. The new idea of freedom is deeply influenced by the idea of the free market and the survivor of the fittest, which has become dominant in the process of world wide globalization. In my paper I will discuss  the relationship between freedom as a modern value and the changes it has undergone in contemporary society.