Defining Post-Modernism
In trying to define exactly what post-modernism is I shall firstly briefly consider some of the events and thinking that led up to the development of this particular school of social theory. I shall then consider some of the common strands of thinking in postmodernism concentrating mainly on the writings of Jean-Francois Lyotard and Jean Baudrillard. I shall then consider the view of David Harvey, a Marxist many consider to be writing in the postmodern tradition, who argues that post-modernism is just another form of capitalism. Having analysed his argument I shall conclude by giving my own personal view of post-modernism and by showing that by its very nature it is virtually impossible to come up with one single all encompassing definition.
The term postmodernism was first used in relation to architecture. Modern architecture, namely the high rise tower blocks of the sixties, were becoming more and more unpopular. Charles Jencks (1977) traces the death of modernist architecture to the demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis, and other writers (Lemert (1990)) have seen this as a symbol of the end of modernity. Society was reacting against modern architectural ideas having lost faith in the modern ideals. Although modern architecture might have been scientifically advanced using the latest and cheapest materials, people rejected it, preferring to return to a variety of styles from the past. Examples of this can be seen in the rejuvenation of the Albert Dock in Liverpool, and 'mock'; medieval squares.
Similarly in Sociology postmodernism rejects the theories of the past, and represents a break from the 'modern'; way of thinking. For example, Marx envisaged society evolving through social change into the 'perfect'; communist society, where there are no issues of class or general inequality. Postmodernists would refer to his theory, and those of other sociologists, as a metanarrative and writers such as Lyotard (1984) have seen the rejection of such theories as central to postmodernism:
'Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodernism as incredulity to metanarratives';
People have lost faith in the metanarratives of the past and Lyotard sees social life being organised around 'language games', which serve to justify people's behaviour in society. In these games a person endeavours to persuade others t...
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...is impossible to apply one all encompassing theory. A range of theories must be considered and all viewpoints listened to. Only by adopting such an approach and by welcoming different points of view can we further understand the world in which we live.
References
Harvey, D. (1990) 'The Condition Of Postmodernity'; Oxford:Blackwell
Kellner, D. (1990) 'Postmodernism: Jameson: Critique'; cited in Ritzer, G. (1992) 'Sociological Theory'; (third edition) New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Lyotard, J.F. (1984) The Postmodern Condition. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press
Ritzer, G. (1992) 'Sociological Theory'; (third edition) New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
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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...
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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.”
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