Modernization in post-communist countries as multiple modernity. An observation within state – society relationship, to understand the Albanian pathway to modernity.

2011/2012Societies of eastern European countries and among them Albania since more than two decades have overturned the communist regime and have started their path of versatile social, political and economical change. But despite the fact that much time has passed, still many uncertainties remain unanswered regarding the modernization change vector of these societies. In the theoretical framework of classical approaches on modernization, which are embraced by most scholars of transitology, the prospect of these countries was clear, as long as the finality was predetermined – to achieve the Western model of modernity. As result the entire process of change was simply mechanical and consisted only in finding adequate instruments to implement the necessary reforms to achieve this development model. But even if there existed a social compromise in order to passively accept a uni-linear and teleological development philosophy, it dismantle any source of diversity by questioning the modernity per se, it is not only unworthy but above all impossible. Thus starting from this premise, some other researchers oppose this approach by pretending more a plural conceptualization of post-communist modernity than a homogenizing one. Exactly from this critical theoretical coordinate starts my research on post-communist modernity seeking to break free firstly from this paradigm, in order to be able to observe with other lenses Albanian post - communist reality. We're thus looking for a local path to modernization of Albanian society and agents that participate in this social change. Although aware from the starting point, that we cannot find any meaningful features of any local modernity, because the homogenizing and uni-linear paradigm of modernization is perpetuated by all local actors as an undisputable modus operandi, reflected in the society vocation of integration into the European Union. More concretely, the main object of theoretical and empirical analyze in this dissertation becomes the state-society relationship, as it manifests in the best mode the typology of social change that Albanian society is experiencing. Indeed, while the whole society is appealed to participate in the installation of "new order", the opposite is observed- political alienation of society, deterioration of horizontal and vertical trust, low participation, inactive civil society that reduces the relationship state - society in a dysfunctional relationship. The state instead of being valued as the castle that we must build altogether is increasingly seen as a foreign body within the social organism. By analyzing at the empirical and theoretical level historical and actual reasons of these phenomena, we will try to explore better the physiognomy of post-communist modernity in Albania (if such exists) and of participatory agents in the social change process.XXV Ciclo198