Genealogies of Modernity

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the specific becoming of the now-predominant commercial health insurance system for a judicious recollection of the solidarity-fostered institution of community “sickness funds” which it both erased and replaced—and that a just future may need to restore. @GRMartsolf

Few features of the contemporary world are as dissatisfying and intractable as is the modern American regime of health insurance. In this week’s “From the Archive,” we turn to Grant Martsolf’s essay on the genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/a-gene…

And find part I here: genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/when-t…

"The seal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is filled with the paradoxes and tensions that are required to define and depict modernity." Check out our latest, part II of Julian Sieber's essay on colonial seals genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/when-t…

"Specialization obscures how knowledge learned in one field is related to another and, consequently, to the world more broadly." genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/newman…

In case you missed it: check out our latest essay from Julian Sieber on Colonial Seals, Native Americans, and the Bible in the Construction of Modernity genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/when-t…

in favor of the insular. In this week's "From the Archives," we look to writer Gina Elia's essay "Newman's 'Idea of a University' as a Foundation for Liberal Arts Programs" for perspective on this phenomenon. genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/newman… @ginaelia22

A "university" is so called, as being "turned-toward (-versus) a one (uni-)." By the destiny of its name it is supposed to offer a view upon the whole of things: implied in the generalist project of the liberal arts. The university, however, seems to have vacated the panoramic,

"It neatly highlights several important phenomena that cohere to underpin Western colonial modernity: seals/logos, the Bible, and the construction of 'the Indian.'” Read our newest essay by Julian Sieber on colonial seals and modernity

"The Massachusetts Bay Colony Seal is in and of itself a rather compact genealogy of modernity. The image is a discursive moment that actively constructs a sense of what it means to be modern." genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/when-t…

Their discussion brushes against the subtle practice and humane purpose animating the ancient art form of asystematic writing. In a time which has long since witnessed the oblivion of the Whole, let us seek out the mortal wisdom to be obtained in the Part.

In this week's "From the Archives," we consider a conversation between our own GenMod managing editor Kirsten Hall Herlin (@Kirstenannehall) and art historian Donato Loia , author of the collection 1095 Short Sentences. genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/anti-a…

Check out our latest from @JLaurenceCohen on genealogies of religious demagoguery and grifter capitalism from "Sweet Daddy" Grace to Donald Trump genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/religi…

we examine alongside professor Andrew Latham (@aalatham) the question: "Is Liberalism Dead?"

Liberalism seems to have become passé. But, need it be altogether surpassed? What is the liberalism which deserves to perish, and what within this broad tradition continues to recommend itself? In this week's "From the Archives," genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/is-lib…

Check out our newest "Pathways" piece for March 2026, on the relationship of war to our narratives about modernity. genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/pathwa…

In this week's "From the Archives," we ride with Charles R. Martelle as he tours these battle-lines and hammers away at this civilizational threat. Let us heed his call, gathering under the banner of his essay: "Sacrificing Our Youth."

Our digitally-nomadic next generation, drifting unsheltered amongst the ruined fortifications of a previous era's meaning-sustaining institutions, is particularly vulnerable to such cynical conquest.

Attention is conscious time. Because the time of life is finite, attention is scarce. Commodifying what is scarce lets it be sold for profit. Profit drives a campaign to progressively capture our attention, to fully occupy the time of our lives. genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/sacrif…

"There is no fate a human being can face that will render bringing them into the world immoral…. But it can be a moral failure to knowingly bring a child into the world and not be ready to address, in whatever way you can, the challenges they will face."

Part 2 of @anthonyshoplik1's interview with @a_n_a_berg and @rachelcwiseman -- authors of "What Are Children For?: On Ambivalence and Choice" is linked below! genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/an-int…