‘Modernity, on all its sides, may be defined in terms of an aspiration
to reveal the essential truth of the world’ (Boyne and Rattansi,
1990).
‘[In postmodernism] philosophical pillars are brought down, the most
notable of which are the ‘unities’ of meaning, theory and the self’
(Hassard and Parker, 1993).
In my opinion the above quotes neatly summarise the motivational ideas
behind modernism and postmodernism as thought processes. However
different the inspiration, methodology, and conclusions of classical
sociological ideas such as those of Marx, Durkheim and Weber it can be
said that their documentation of society into meta-narratives
indicates an inherent desire to fully understand the modern world in
which they lived (Morrison, 1995). This desire of modernists is
summarised in the Boyne and Rattansi (1990) quote; postmodernists on
the other hand do not seek to fully understand society with one direct
answer and methodology but attempt to question what is happening in
society with reflexivity and ambivalence; understanding how relativism
shapes all sociological thought. Hassard and Parker (1993) illustrate
this point with the imagery of strong ‘philosophical pillars’ being
brought down to be questioned, re-examined and perhaps even destroyed
with postmodern thought. Although postmodernity is not just a style of
thinking it has been stated as a social condition or a ‘social,
political and cultural configuration’ (Boyne and Rattansi, 1990); a
process of development from 19th century modernity which encapsulates
‘literary theory, linguistics, philosophy and social analysis’ (Boyne
and Rattansi, 1990). With its very nature postmodernism does not
attempt to hold any great answers for social thought, atleast not in
the same style as modernism, however this essay is an attempt to look
at how worthwhile postmodernism has been to sociology by examining how
it has influenced the progression of social thought. This will begin
with looking at how postmodernism has affected the sociological
stances in the modernist classics. I will also discuss what
postmodernism means to feminism a more recent sociological
discipline.
Marx’s ideas on class oppression and political revolution stem from
Three thinkers form the foundations of modern-day sociological thinking. Émile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. Each developed different theoretical approaches to help us understand the way societies function, and how we are determined by society. This essay will focus on the contrasts and similarities of Durkheim and Weber’s thought of how we are determined by society. It will then go on to argue that Weber provides us with the best account of modern life.
This paper is an attempt to do something that is probably not a good idea. I am going to try and take the ideas of some of the most prominent postmodern Sociological thinkers and mesh them together in some sort of coherent format. The purpose of this paper is to provide a starting place for people interested in postmodern Sociological thought. There really is no one all-encompassing postmodern theory, or a group of like-minded postmodern theorists. In fact this notion is antithetical to much of what postmodern literature maintains. At the same time, there has to be similar themes that run through postmodern theories, or it wouldn’t have the label it does. So, lets take a look at some of the similarities as a starting point. One of the most startling similarities of some of the most prominent postmodern Sociological theorists is their reliance on modern Sociological theorists, specifically, Karl Marx. At first this may seem strange, after all Marx is the ultimate modern theorist. How can theory that is often so radically opposed to modernity rely on Marx? One of the problems that has haunted Sociology in recent years is its theories feel like they have grown stale, much of today’s Sociological theory is really a cover of another theory. Regurgitations of Marx, Max Weber, or Emile Durkheim. Theorists we label postmodern have formulated their ideas in this type of environment. Therefore, they have a modern base, they have rejected this modern base to give us something new, and often insightful, for most. Others consider it a waste of time. Post modernity relies heavily on theory, largely because most of the Sociological postmodern thinkers were schooled in this traditi...
In truth, and overall, I cannot say that I am very satisfied with my improvements to my ASL this semester. I think I had high expectations coming into the semester, and they were difficult in being realized. One biggest area that needs improvement is the fluency in my signing, especially concerning English mouthing. I am obviously not at all satisfied in this area. This area is one of a great mystery to me, because I have not had that much issues with English mouthing in ASL I. For example, in VJ#3 for ASL I, I did not mouth many words. I guess picking up this habit this semester or maybe not addressing the formation of this habit and being able to ignore it was due to the increase in difficulty and complexity of what was required in ASL II. Additionally, it could be because the videos for this class were done with a partner while the video journals for ASL were done by myself. I think that having an additional person, having to coordinate what we are siging, as well as having much longer notes and requirements made me have to think a lot to produce my sings. They were not the simple, “I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters” kinds of sentences. I tend to mouth more when I have to think about what I have to say. This issue is most evident in my first video journal for ASL II, where I literally mouth every word. Although it got a bit better for the second one, the habit and issue still persists as evidenced my the feedback I received from the professor. I think what hindered my improvement was actually lack of practice. Not just lack of practice, but specifically lack of practice signing with other students about topics that were not precisely covered in class. I needed more practice on spontaneity; my mastery of the...
Marxism is a method of analysis based around the concepts developed by the two German philosophers Karl Marx and Fredrich Engel, centered around the complexities of social-relations and a class-based society. Together, they collaborated their theories to produce such works as The German Ideology (1846) and The Communist Manifesto (1848), and developed the terms ‘’proletariat’ and ’bourgeois’ to describe the working-class and the wealthy, segmenting the difference between their respective social classes. As a result of the apparent differences, Marxism states that proletariats and bourgeoisie are in constant class struggle, working against each other to amount in a gain for themselves.
Post-modernism reveals that circumstances cannot be explained in one way. Modernism has clear procedures and criteria for defining phenomena. The question of truth is determined by science. Scientists control the worldview or meta-narrative o...
Today, we are writing an essay. Its content is about reflection and rhetorical analysis. What to reflect it? Reflections on what we learn. We have studied English for a long time. For our international students, from primary school, we learn the content and form of learning is similar to our own native language. When we learn to basic knowledge of English after. We began to learn new things. This knowledge is to make us more skilled use of the English language. So we started to learn writing. In the writing of a lot of knowledge, they like us to write our own language to write an essay. We need to improve our writing skills with a lot of writing skills. These writing skills can be a plus for our writing. It allows people to join them more interested.
Haralambos & Holbron (2004:84) determined that postmodern societies distinguish themselves through four key figures: culturalism, fragmentation, autonomization and resignifcation. Postmodernism theorizes that class is dead due to our consumer culture that allows infinite freedom of choice, taste, lifestyle and fashion; therefore, everyone has the ability to shape themselves and create their own identity. Globalization and media influence has spread the idea of individualism is the key that divides society subsequently provoking no definite class exclusivity—People no longer identify themselves through their social class, occupation or their background, rather they do so through their leisure (realsociology, n.d). Postmodernism encourages the idea that if perceptions are acted upon they can be achieved through a person’s willingness to pursue their personal development and desires (Pakulski & Waters,1996:121:120). Literary critic Frederic Jameson argued from a Marxist perspective that society is divided because despite having a superstructure that is constantly changing (culture and society), there is still an economical base (the relation of productions and exchange) which is what ultimately shapes society (Clark, 2008);
Postmodernism movement started in the 1960’s, carrying on until present. James Morley defined the postmodernism movement as “a rejection of the sovereign autonomous individual with an emphasis upon anarchic collective anonymous experience.” In other words, postmodernism rejects what has been established and makes emphasis on combined revolutionary experiences. Postmodernism can be said it is the "derivate" of modernism; it follows most of the same ideas than modernism but resist the very idea of boundaries. According to our lecture notes “Dominant culture uses perception against others to maintain authority.”
According to Marx class is determined by property associations not by revenue or status. It is determined by allocation and utilization, which represent the production and power relations of class. Marx’s differentiate one class from another rooted on two criteria: possession of the means of production and control of the labor power of others. The major class groups are the capitalist also known as bourgeoisie and the workers or proletariat. The capitalist own the means of production and purchase the labor power of others. Proletariat is the laboring lower class. They are the ones who sell their own labor power. Class conflict to possess power over the means of production is the powerful force behind social growth.
In the course of this semester of writing, I grew more than I ever had in my ability to write well. I remember on the first day of class several other students were talking about how hard this writing professor is. I was a bit worried and even thought about switching to an easy professor for a guarantee A so I can get a 4.0. Now, I am grateful that I chose to decide to work hard for a 4.0 instead. Even though I may not get it, I am still glad I stayed because for once, I learned and became a better writer. I can see that my knowledge of conventions definitely improved from last semester. I really loved the feedback for my assignments, since it allows me to realize what I need to improve on and what I should keep doing. Unlike the previous semester, the writing professor only told us our grade on the very first assignment after two months. There were no feedback on how I could improve either, so I had no idea if I was having trouble with anything. Prior to this course, I always had trouble writing sentences and organizing them in such a way that flows and delivers my idea well. I also rarely outline or plan out how I will write a paper too, and even when I did, it was very vague. Out of the five learning outcomes, I grew the most in rhetoric knowledge and writing process from the reading responses and 4 assignment.
It wasn’t until elementary school that I noticed I started to develop literacy skills. I was never big into reading. Writing has always been easier for me, but I would say the 2nd grade is when I realized how important being able to read and write was, to be successful in life. I really can’t remember a time that I have actually read a book from start to finish and I don’t have much literacy history, because I was the only child and I always found other ways to keep myself occupied. My parents both worked full time jobs and long hours so the subject was never pressed on me when I was at home. I was pretty responsible as a child. I would go to and from school on my bicycle, then after school, I would do my homework and my chores before I went outside to play. When I was in school, I always had a lot of friends, so reading and writing never really fit in to my schedule at all. I knew at an early age, that I didn’t really care about literacy.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ The Communist Manifesto explores class struggles and their resulting revolutions. They first present their theory of class struggle by explaining that “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Marx 14), meaning that history is a repeated class struggle that only ends with a revolution. Marx and Engels’ message in The Communist Manifesto is that it is inevitable for class struggles to result in revolutions, ultimately these revolutions will result in society’s transition to communism.
Modernists portray a dull, gloomy and pessimistic picture of culture in America during this time period. This despair is often caused by an apparent boredom and the people’s feeling of uncertainty, of changes to come. Modernism uncovered has an anti-traditionalist theme instilled in it, because of the inevitability that changes will occur. “Modern” itself possesses the qualities, such as being simple and spontaneous along with an indefinite time frame to allow people’s acceptance of unknown. In many ways, this movement is difficult to define, but it can be generally applied to the work o...
The notion of postmodernism has rapidly made its way to the front and center of our social discussion topics. The question that must be asked concerning this erroneous view from the premise is, ‘How does anyone think this logically and pragmatically could be an idea which they could hold firm to?’ The idea of postmodernism guarantees that there are no guarantees. In other terms, postmodernism boldly states that there is a solid truth that the earth is incapable of boldly producing statements of solidified truths. Straight from the premise of this fallacious idea we see a landslide of incoherence and an overwhelming sense of vacillation at the very foundation.
In the world of education, assessments play an integral role in student learning. To get the most out of assessments, they must be aligned with the standards, accurately measure what students know, as well as promote student learning (McTighe and O’Connor, 2005). In order to do this, it is important to include students in the assessment planning process. This should begin at the beginning of a unit with the pre-assessment and should be carried throughout the formative and summative assessments. Dr. Anne Davies believes that “when students are involved in the assessment process, they are more engaged and motivated, and they learn more” (Davies, 2007, p. 31). In my interdisciplinary unit, I attempt to include students in every stage of the assessments