Introduction: Technological Modernization in a Multipolar World

This editorial introduces a Special Issue on «Technological Modernization in a Multipolar World.» It is stimulated by the growing tension between established Western narratives of modernization and the emergence of alternative technological trajectories across diverse geopolitical contexts. Rather than treating modernization as a unified process, this collection of articles approaches it as a contested and pluralistic phenomenon shaped by competing imaginaries, institutional arrangements, and value frameworks. Individual contributions examine how technological systems function as sites of negotiation through which societies articulate and transform their identities, governance structures, and future orientations. Organized around conceptual, digital, ecological, and reflexive perspectives, this set of articles advances a reflexive understanding of technological modernization as an open-ended process unfolding through differentiation with interdependence, it furthermore highlights the challenge of sustaining dialogue across divergent yet interconnected pathways.