Antimodernism

Antimodernism is a philosophical orientation that is somewhat difficult to define, but in essence constitutes a rejection of modernist ideals and behaviours in favour of what is perceived as a purer historical or even prehistorical way of life and consciousness of mind. As such, antimodernism is neither a singlely definable movement nor a unified set of beliefs, but a vaguely defined gist of thought.

In that akin to the position of postmodernism in being a rejection of modernism, the two terms overlap to a degree. In a sense, antimodernism typically looks towards the past for inspiration for the direction of the future, whereas postmodernism looks towards a rejection of modernism with a (oftentimes, much) lesser orientation towards the past as the guide than of ideals borne of times closer to the present. The focus of an antimodernist's view of the importance of the past may encompass religion, culture, nationalism, or merely a present continuation of an existent historical social-structure. This is not to say, however, that antimodernist thinking is constrained to within the bounds of historical precedent in finding solutions for present and future problems.

The notion of antimodernty was primarily borne as a part of disillusionment with Europe's industrial revolution in the 19th century, which oversaw one of the the most dramatic periods of social change in human history. Mass urbanisation and industrialisation contributed to the heralding of a markedly different era within a relatively short space of time. This thereby created an environment that was conducive to the rise of ideologies alternative to a mainstream which was a far departure from what was in the hearts and minds of generations in their prime merely decades before.

While not necessarily being anti-technology by nature, antimodernism typically either considers technology as a being a lesser priority of human endeavour, or that in the modern world its utilisation is misapplied and misguided. At the far side of the spectrum, some individuals characterisable as being antimodernist would consider all technology beyond a certain level of advancement as being demonic in either a literal or practical sense.

See also: Amish, The Lord Of The Rings, Luddite, Religious fundamentalism