Title: Postmodernism – An Introduction for A-level Sociology Students – ReviseSociology
Headings: Postmodernism – An Introduction for A-level Sociology Students
Postmodernism – An Introduction for A-level Sociology Students
Sources

Content: Postmodernism – An Introduction for A-level Sociology Students – ReviseSociology
Postmodernism – An Introduction for A-level Sociology Students
Postmodernism is an intellectual movement that became popular in the 1980s, and the ideas associated with it can be seen as a response to the social changes occurring with the shift from modernity to postmodernity. Postmodernists claim that the classic social thinkers took their inspiration from the idea that history has a shape – it ‘goes somewhere’ and is progressive. Jean Francois Lyotard argues that this idea has now collapsed and there are no longer any ‘metanarratives’ – overall conceptions of history or society – that make any sense. The postmodern world is not destined, as Marx hoped, to be a harmonious socialist one, and thus Marxism (along with Functionalism and Feminism) and its promise of a better future are no longer relevant to the more complex and less predictable post-modern age. Similarly, Lyotard argues that scientific research is no longer done purely to uncover knowledge to make the world a better place (like the original Enlightenment thinkers thought was the case), but simply to empower those with the money who fund it. This could explain why we have nuclear weapons but no cure for cancer. Jean-Francois Lyotard: A Postmodern Frenchman, or a French Postmodernist? Moreover, it seems that the pursuit of scientific knowledge (and especially its application) has in some ways made the world a riskier, more dangerous place – nuclear weapons and global warming are both the products of science, for example. Democracy has spread around the world, but in many developed political systems voters are apathetic and politicians reviled.