Post-Modern Theory: Its major arguments
The term ‘postmodern social theory’ has special relevance for sociology. Postmodern social theory, according to Best and Kellner (1991), refers to a kind of social theory that is distinct from modern social theory. In the “Modern” and “post-modern” were terms that were developed in the 20th century. “Modern” is the term that describes the period from the 1890s to 1945, and “post-modern” refers to the period after the Second World War, mainly after 1968.
The emergence of postmodern social theory and its differences from modern theory. In general, modern social theory tends to be absolute, rational, and to accept the possibility of discovering truth, whereas postmodern social theory tends to be relativisitic and open to the possibility of irrationality. However, as is the case with modern social theory, not all postmodern social theory is of one piece.
Postmodern social theory has come to reality. It has begun to take roots. Some think that it is the declaration of the death of sociological theory. Others argue that it is an appropriate moment for sociological theory to transform itself by accepting some criticisms made by postmodern social theory.
Sociological theory and social theory are not and should not be at different poles. Postmodern social theory surely is not the result of the contributions of many non-sociologist thinkers only; it is also a product of sociologist thinkers. In fact, social theory is differentiated from sociological theory for its being interdisciplinary.
But it also means that social theory can also be looked from the sociological vantage point. There is yet another perspective. Scholars like George Ritzer consider social theory not only from sociological perspective but from the perspective of modernity.
Thus, postmodern social theory includes perspectives of sociological theory, non-sociological perspectives such as literary criticism, anthropology and so on and modernist perspective. Ritzer seems to be liberal for looking at and analyzing postmodern social theory from the vantage point of modernism. (Postmodern Social Theory-George Ritzer)
Criticisms of Postmodern Social Theory
Postmodernism is criticized for being untestable, unsystematic, overly abstract, relativistic, pessimistic, and without vision. Nevertheless, there is some question as to what is the appropriate metric of success, as postmodernism has certainly posed a number of important and interesting questions to social theory.
Criticisms / Major Arguments on Post-Postmodern Social Theory
the major criticisms / major arguments on postmodern social theory will be discuss on the following:
1. Postmodern theory is criticized for its failure to live up to modern scientific standards, standards that postmodernists eschew. To the scientifically oriented modernist, it is impossible to know whether the contentions of postmodernists are true.
2. Since the knowledge produced by postmodernists cannot be seen as constituting a body of scientific ideas, it might be better to look at postmodern social theory as ideology (Kumar, 1995). Once we do that, it is no longer a matter of whether the ideas are true, but simply whether we believe in them. Those who believe in one set of ideas have no grounds to argue that their ideas are any better or worse than any other set of ideas.
3. Because they are unconstrained by the norms of science, postmodernists are free to do as they please, to “play” with a wide range of ideas. Broad generalizations are offered, often without qualification. Furthermore, in expressing their positions, postmodern social theorists are not restricted to the dispassionate rhetoric of the modern scientist. The excessive nature of much of postmodern discourse makes it difficult for most of those outside the perspective to accept its basic tenets.
4. Postmodern ideas are often so vague and abstract that it is difficult, if not impossible, to connect them to the social world (Calhoun, 1993b). Relatedly, meanings of concepts tend to change over the course of a postmodernist’s work, but the reader, unaware of the original meanings, is unclear about any changes.
5. Despite their propensity to criticize the grand narratives of modern theorists, postmodern social theorists often offer their own varieties of such narratives. For example, Jameson often is accused of employing Marxian grand narratives and totalizations.
6. In their analyses, postmodern social theorists often offer critiques of modern society, but those critiques are of questionable validity because they generally lack a normative basis from which to make such judgments.
7. Given their rejection of an interest in the subject and subjectivity, postmodernists often lack a theory of agency.
8. Postmodern social theorists are best at critiquing society, but they lack any vision of what society ought to be.
9. Postmodern social theory leads to profound pessimism.
10. While postmodern social theorists grapple with what they consider major social issues, they often end up ignoring what many consider the key problems of our time.
11. The feminists have been particularly strong critics of postmodern social theory. Feminists have tended to be critical of postmodern social theory’s rejection of the subject, of its opposition to universal, cross-cultural categories (such as gender and gender oppression), of its excessive concern with difference, of its rejection of truth, and of its inability to develop a critical political agenda.
Many other criticisms of postmodern social theory in general, to say nothing of many specific criticisms of each postmodern theorist, could be enumerated. However, the list above gives a good sense of the range of those criticisms. Whatever the merits of these critiques, the central issue is whether postmodern theory has produced a set of interesting, insightful, and important ideas that are likely to affect social theory long into the future. It should be clear from this chapter that such ideas exist in profusion within postmodern social theory.
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