India shows how the tensions between tradition and modernization can intensify over time, not resolve. Decades of secular democracy did not eliminate religious nationalism; in some ways, the experience of modernization (including economic disruption, urbanization, and exposure to global culture) may have made some Indians more receptive to traditional and religious identities. This pattern is not unique to India; analogous tensions exist in many modernizing societies.

VI. Saudi Arabia: Tradition Funded by Oil

Saudi Arabia presents an unusual case in this unit: extreme wealth combined with strict adherence to traditional religious practices. The Saudi case illustrates that modernization (in the sense of modern technology, urban development, and economic integration with the world) does not necessarily produce secular or politically liberal societies.