Abstract:
What does it mean to be modern for a Latin American living in the 21st century? The rumination on this question will be the main objective of this essay. Although, as it evolves, other questions will appear to enrich its argumentation: what is usually understood by being modern nowadays? What has being modern meant in history? How Latin American sociological theory has comprehended the concept of being modern? Which are the links between modern, development and progress? The thesis I would like to defend is that technology is the main force that determines what is and what is not modern, or, as the dictionary defines it, what is and what is not part “of our times”. In spite of this, a modern Latin American of the 21st century is one who tries to be part of his time and simultaneously asks himself about its own identity: what do we want to be?
Keywords:
Modern; Technology; Culture; Coloniality