Essay Questions

What impact did Robert Moses have in New York, according to Berman?

According to Berman, Robert Moses had a huge impact on industrialism and urban innovation in New York City. In the text, the figure of Moses comes to symbolize modernity in the city. Berman explores both his achievements and his failures. For example, he praises Berman for turning industrial waste sites into useful attractions, such as the creation of the New York World’s Fair in 1939, and the creation of Jones Beach in the 1920s.

This being said, Berman also cites examples of how Moses’ innovations did not work. For example, Berman explores the negative impact that the creation of an expressway had for residents of the South Bronx. Although it helped people to commute across the city, it impacted many people negatively. Berman argues that this represents the fact that the lives of the commuters were valued more than the lives of the Bronx residents. As such, this example represents modernity gone wrong.

How does Berman define modernity?

Berman defines modernity as a way of being and a way of existing in the modern world. He describes modernity in the following passage:
"There is a mode of vital experience -- experience of space and time, of the self and others, of life's possibilities and perils -- that is shared by men and women all over the world today. I will call this body of experience "modernity."

Modernity is a complex concept to Berman, and throughout the text, he juggles with its possibilities for good and evil. It is a shared experience between everyone living in modern times and changes people's experiences of the world.