Matthias Meier explores the question of whether the promise of modernity, which can also be interpreted as a social stage for individual self-realization, stems from a structurally realistic observation of society. He demonstrates that the unfulfillment of this promise arises from the structure of a society that cannot be fully addressed - a circumstance that has so far been rendered invisible by the social semantics of collective identity forms. Furthermore, the author examines the functions these forms fulfill in a sociological sense and in which contexts they generate particular connectivity. In the process, figures of collective identities as forms of contingency limitation gain new relevance as previously assumed patterns of order dissolve.