In modern societies, it is argued, different areas of social life become increasingly separated from each other. While there are important variations between different authors, there are some main threads in theories of modernity. Modern society is contrasted with traditional society which is seen as hindering economic development. Changes occur through evolutionary stages which are broadly similar for all societies. Cultural modernization typically involves the decline of religion as an explanation for events and the rise of secular scientific explanations.
Modernization is believed to involve the development of nationalism .
Economic modernization is seen to involve profound economic changes an increasing division of labour , the use of management techniques, and improved technologies. Social modernization is believed to involve increasing literacy and urbanization , among other things. A number of criticisms have been made of modernization theories. It is based on the model of development in the West and is thus a culturally arrogant model of development, which ignores the possibility of the development of novel societal forms in the Third World. Further it is argued that modernization does not necessarily lead to industrial growth and equal distribution of social benefits since it does not occur evenly and has resulted in the underdevelopment and dependency of some areas.