Identify and evaluate some of the evidence used to argue that we have moved from modernity to postmodernity.
Identify and evaluate some of the evidence used to argue that we have moved from modernity to postmodernity.
The transition from traditional medieval society to modernity is relatively easy to identify. The Enlightenment brought about a period of change. There was a new faith in rationality and reason, God was no longer thought to be at the center of the universe, there was a move from agriculture to industry, and capitalism became the predominant economic force. As a sociological concept modernity is therefore associated with industrialization, urbanization, secularization, bureaucracy and progress. The second half of the twentieth century has also been a period of rapid change. These changes are particularly evident in the spheres of art, culture, technology and science. The world appears to have become smaller and improved transportation has opened up global markets for industry. There is not the same sense of confidence that change means progress that there was in the nineteenth century. The rapid pace of change together with this lack of confidence has led some theorists to claim that we have left the period of modernity and moved into postmodernity. The arguments offered to support their claim are sometimes abstract and obscure. It is not easy to define the characteristics of postmodernity.
Postmodernism can be described as a challenge to sociology. Sociology developed as a discipline along with modern society. The sociological theses of modernity states that society exists, is uniform and coherent, has a dynamic that can be studied and explained, and that there are universal truths that can be applied to all society. Recent theories of postmodernity challenge these ideas, stating that there are no universal truths, no grand narratives. Theories such as Marx’s universal emancipation of mankind through revolution, or Durkheim’s belief that the future of society lay in the need for consensus become redundant. Jean Lyotard expresses this as an ‘incredulity towards meta-narratives.’ (Lyotard. 1979) Postmodernists express a deep distrust of any universal story of the human race. Rather than a single narrative Lyotard suggests there are a large number of different histories and local stories that cannot be summarized by one all encompassing story. Kivisto suggests that at it’s most extreme, ‘postmodernism constitutes a profound repudiation of the entire Western philosophical tradition and represents a form of extreme skepticism about our ability to carry on the sociological tradition as it has been conceived since the nineteenth century.’ (Kivisto. 1998. p140) Postmodernists such as Lyotard or Baudrillard suggest that sociology must become more modest in its attempt to explain or understand society. Postmodernists embrace diversity and difference. They believe that any claim to truth becomes one more competing narrative, and that each one is equally valid. They become competing ‘language-games’ (Lyotard. 1979). There is no ‘shared language’ (Kivisto. 1998. p140), no one set of rules for society to live by. Thus the end of absolute truth and meta-narratives also suggests the end of modernity, as it was a period defined by its belief in man’s ability to diagnose and treat problems within society with the power of knowledge. Or so says the postmodernist. The belief in the end of absolute truths is reflected in the diversity of faiths and religions that flourish in modern society. Many people no longer see the need to align themselves with one particular faith, but may take a little from a number of religions, perhaps believing in the idea of a Christian God, but also including the notion of reincarnation in their own personal faith. This is a feature of the ‘pick and mix’ or eclectic nature of postmodernity and can be seen in many features of social life.
