All That Is Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity

In the Preface and Introduction, Berman dissects the complexities of modernity, which refers to the qualities, experiences, and challenges of living in the modern world. He describes it as an environment that promises opportunities for adventure, joy, and personal growth while simultaneously posing risks that could destroy everything familiar—our possessions, knowledge, and identities. This duality of promising immense creativity alongside profound destruction introduces one of the book’s central themes, The Paradox of Modernity: Creation and Destruction. Despite being written in 1982, Berman’s insights into modernity remain relevant, not only reflecting the era of the 1980s but also resonating with the experiences of individuals living in today’s fast-paced, technologically driven world and even those in centuries past. By framing modernity in this way, Berman invites consideration of how living in any modern era can feel empowering yet threatening, filled with potential yet fraught with instability.

Berman’s method of “reading” encompasses not only literary texts but also the landscapes of urban development and the lives of both fictional and real individuals. This multifaceted approach seeks to uncover the shared modern concerns of transformation and disorientation—a will to change paired with the terror of disintegration. He articulates the duality of modern existence: an overwhelming power wielded by bureaucratic organizations versus the relentless human determination to reshape the world. Berman portrays modernity as a balancing act between revolutionary desires and conservative impulses and between the longing for creation and the fear of nihilism. For example, in the Preface, he highlights the Crystal Palace, constructed for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London as a marvel of modern engineering and architectural design, which symbolized the industrial age’s potential for innovation. Similarly, he discusses Baron Haussmann’s renovation of Paris, particularly the creation of wide boulevards, which were designed to modernize Paris but also to control and disperse urban crowds, thus showcasing the dual nature of modernization as both a creator of beauty and a perpetuator of social upheaval.

In these first parts of the book, Berman establishes his unique interdisciplinary approach, integrating perspectives from diverse fields to dissect the complex phenomenon of modern life. These include the following:

1. History and Philosophy: Berman discusses the philosophical underpinnings of modernity, referring to thinkers like Marx, who famously said, “All that is solid melts into air” (89), a reflection on the transient nature of modern advancements and their impacts on society.
2. Urban Studies: The text includes an examination of urban transformations, such as Haussmann’s renovation of Paris and Robert Moses’s highways in New York. These examples show how urban planning and changes to the physical cityscape reflect broader societal shifts under modernity.
3. Literature: Berman uses literary works like Goethe’s Faust and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes From Underground as lenses through which to view the effects of modernity on individual lives and societal structures, illustrating the personal and emotional dimensions of modern experiences.

This interdisciplinary approach allows Berman to examine modernity not just as a series of events or innovations but as a complex phenomenon influencing all facets of life. By bringing together these diverse fields, Berman paints a broader picture of how modern developments shape human experiences and environments. This approach makes it easier to see how changes in technology, economics, and urban development impact cultural and personal realms, illustrating the web of influences that define the modern world.

Berman’s exploration of modernity employs the philosophical concept of dialectics, a method he uses to uncover the underlying tensions between progress and its unintended consequences. Dialectics is essentially about understanding the world through the lens of conflicts and contradictions. It examines how opposing forces within any situation or idea interact, often leading to the emergence of something new and unexpected. The process of mixing paint colors is a helpful analogy for understanding dialectics: When blue and yellow paints are combined, they don’t simply blend into a vague mixture; instead, they produce a distinct new color—green. Similarly, Berman uses dialectics to analyze modernity. When technological advancements (blue) collide with traditional ways of life (yellow), they don’t just cancel each other out. Instead, they synthesize to form a new social condition (green), which includes elements of both but also has its own distinct characteristics. This new condition might manifest as a technologically driven lifestyle that still carries traces of traditional values but also presents unique modern challenges and opportunities. This helps frame modernity as about not only technological progress but also the complex social and cultural shifts that accompany it.