By Lisa Macdonald
Those of us active in radical politics are encountering postmodernism everywhere we turn. But whether it is postindustrialism or post-Fordism in economics, post-structuralism in philosophy or post-feminism in women's collectives, in the last analysis it all boils down to basically the same thing: middle-class liberalism with all its attendant features of naivety, irrationalism and idealism. Despite its left veneer, it ultimately leads to reactionary conclusions.
These characteristics of postmodernism make it a weapon in the arsenal of right-wing ideologues both in the short term — there is no doubt, for example, that postmodernism is actually demobilising student-based movements today — and also in the longer term as part of the capitalist class's offensive against socialism.
Marxism, we are told, is outmoded. Historical materialists who criticise postmodernism are accused of being reductionists, instrumental rationalists, constructionists, biological determinists.
This is an attempt to baffle with bullshit. When you get beyond the language to the "text" — and postmodernism is just that, a style of discussion — postmodernism is revealed as little more than a rehashing of some very old and discredited ideas, dressed up in new garb.
I want to begin by briefly explaining modernism, of which postmodernism is either a critique or a continuation depending on which postmodernist you read.
Modernism
Modernism is premised on the view that human beings have begun to seize control of history; that is, that humankind has, in the process of our development, begun to develop the economic, scientific, technological and political forms to know, understand and shape our world. From this it follows that humanity can collectively create a better future.
Modernism has its roots in the 17th century European Enlightenment, a period marked by important advances in the natural sciences, by developments in industry and the beginnings of capitalism in Europe. Just as we could discover, understand and apply the laws governing the natural world and thereby change it, modernism holds that so too humans can discover, understand and apply the laws governing the social sphere and history.
The project of using the principles of science and reason to uncover laws of development so as to construct a better world is therefore sometimes referred to as enlightenment politics.
The heyday of modernism came in the post-World War II period in the advanced capitalist countries. This period, from the end of the war to the early 1970s, was a period of explosive development of mass production, mass consumption and mass culture. Capitalism was in the midst of a long boom and, while the Third World was devastated, in the First World rapid growth in all spheres of production led to an unprecedented confidence in human rationality and progress.
These conditions of capitalist boom consolidated the equal sign between the modernist world view and bourgeois ideology and culture in all its forms.
This is an important point, because by the mid to late 1960s, this golden age was coming to an end. Capitalism went into a long-term structural crisis accompanied by a rise in popular dissent.
In the process of distancing themselves from the system in decline, many young intellectuals also began to reject modernism, or aspects of it, seen to be the root cause of many of the ills of capitalism. Anarchism, for example, found a new lease of life in this period.
The development of the social movements during the 1960s and '70s — the women's liberation movement, the gay movement, the black rights and civil rights movements — also contributed to laying the foundations for the emergence of postmodernism in politics. These movements posed much more sharply for the left questions about the causes and solutions of specific types of oppression in capitalist society. What did the traditional class analysis of socialists have to offer? Could Marxism explain and provide a strategy for the liberation of these oppressed groups?
Stalinism
The socialist movement, seriously weakened and distorted by Stalinism, was not at the time able to meet this challenge. The crude economism which characterised Stalinism and which infected almost all of the Communist parties in the First World blinded the majority of active socialists to the real challenge of the new mass movements, which were often dismissed and disparaged as anti-worker.
Genuine Marxism, which provides a historical and materialist explanation of and strategy for overcoming all specific forms of oppression and, in that sense, which is authentically pluralist, didn't have much of a chance in this general framework at the time.
More recently, the collapse of the USSR and the regimes in Eastern Europe has further demoralised large sections of the left in the First World. Born and bred in the Stalinist era and having no tools to understand, explain and critique this phenomenon, many have chucked out the entire modernist framework of progress and rationality. (Many of the intellectuals who now call themselves "left" postmodernists were previously members of the Communist parties in Europe).
In correctly rejecting the capitalist system's claim to be the pinnacle of human and social development, and in correctly rejecting Stalinism's claim to be a progressive and liberating system, the postmodernists have falsely rejected the scientific method upon which both the capitalist and Marxist world views are built.
The socialist project has failed, they say. It is not possible for humanity collectively to construct a better future. In the words of post-Marxists such as Laclau and Mouffe, we must abandon "classism" if we are to really understand and seek change in this world.
Poststructuralism
The philosophical basis for postmodernism as a political current was provided by poststructuralism. In a nutshell, the poststructuralist outlook rejects the modernist view that there are social and historical forces and relationships arising out of general laws that govern nature and history and which orient and constrain the specific phenomena that we experience directly. Poststructuralists disagree with Marx and others who have said that we make our history not purely by choice, but under given and inherited circumstances.
Instead, they argue, every set of relations in society is as important as every other. There are no key, identifiable, unifying forces — such as the way capital and commodity production unify society according to the Marxist model — and therefore we know the world only by its superficial or surface effects. All events in nature and human society are simply unconnected, equally significant, random occurrences.
In any case, say the poststructuralists, even if such laws did exist, we can't know the world of society and nature in any objective sense because human thinking is absolutely sealed off from the external world by language — the inescapable but imprecise and subjective framework of thought. "Reality" then is constructed through language games, and there are an infinite number of possible language games in human society. So, say the poststructuralists and many postmodernists, everything is a "text". Even those postmodernists who do acknowledge an objective reality beyond the text are still trapped by the view that we can't know anything lasting or important about that reality.
In this framework, the question of objective truth, of knowledge of an objective reality, regardless of individuals' different perceptions or understanding of it, recedes completely. For example, Marxist theory maintains that an objective truth about capitalism is that it rests on the exploitation of the working class. A poststructuralist, however, would say that "exploitation" is but one of a multiplicity of language games or texts with no more validity than the language game of bourgeois economics in which the idea of one class of people systematically benefiting at the expense of another does not exist.
In this way, the exploitation of workers, or women, or people of colour, is reduced to a matter of discourse. "It depends on your point of view", they say. Human society and history exhibit no dependable regularities from which we can judge, predict or direct human development.
In the poststructuralist view, the brutality and destructiveness of the world around us can never be dislodged by deeper forces at work because there are none, or if there are, we can't know what they are. Rationality, the scientific endeavour and the notion of historical progress are a fraud, they say, and therefore the project of fundamental social change, directed by the majority of humanity, is an impossible, even inconceivable, task. Even to envisage this is to make an "essentialist" error.
Difference theory
That's the starting point of the politics of postmodernism as we come across it in our activism. First, if you reject any notion of scientific inquiry and knowledge, any understanding of the world in terms of general laws and fundamental forces, you end up at a politics of difference and ultimately of individualism.
According to difference theory, because those who have spoken in the name of science, progress, etc in capitalist society, that is, the bourgeoisie, have silenced and exploited marginal or less powerful groups, the search for commonality must be rejected. Rather, differences are emphasised. In radical politics, this leads to a sort of rainbow movement being envisaged in which everyone is an individual first and foremost, is assumed to perceive things differently from everyone else, does their own thing, believes in their own thing and (supposedly) respects everyone else's individuality as well.
Not only is this paradigm utter nonsense to the extent that it ignores the fact that an objective reality exists, it is also fundamentally flawed as a strategy for change because it ignores the need for unity of oppressed groups in the face of the most powerful ruling class in history.
In its attempt to straddle between acknowledging the need for change and greater freedom for all individuals, but refusing to acknowledge the structures in our society which limit human freedom, it also ends up romanticising the movements, never coming to grips with (in fact negating) the democratic principle of majority rule.
If individuals and groups in a movement seeking change are all autonomous and hold equally "valid" opinions about the causes and actions required, what happens when they disagree? How are differences among the oppressed resolved in the face of a united and powerful oppressor? Do we try to get beyond differences to find commonality and struggle together? Or do we, in raising differences to the level of sacred cows, deny our common cause and the need for unity?
Liberalism
Most importantly, difference theory reveals the essentially liberal foundations of postmodernism. The view that "we are all individuals" and do our own thing makes sense as a strategy only if you believe that it is possible to eradicate oppression on a piecemeal basis, sector by sector, or one by one, without the need for alliances, for the maximum possible degree of common struggle. Every significant step forward for humanity in terms of greater freedom has been won by large numbers of people banding together in struggle against common oppressors.
It is but a short step from the liberal individualism of difference theory to the laissez faire perspectives of Thatcherism — "each to their own", "individual initiative" and the "rights of the individual".
While the pro-individual, anti-collectivist perspective of postmodernism was fuelled by the experiences and lessons of Stalinist totalitarianism, and while the proponents of difference politics can be excused for reacting against the lack of democracy in many of the progressive movements over the past few decades, this position is ultimately regressive in that it leads to an all-encompassing anti-masses perspective.
Big trade unions, big mobilisations, big issues, broad alliances — all are attacked in theory and practice by postmodernism. The liberal adage "small is good" becomes a major blockage to the process of achieving genuine individual freedom for all people, a condition which is possible only once the current social structure is eradicated.
Postmodernist politics is conservative, even reactionary. First, it is anti-progress in so far as historical development is perceived as the result of chance, of a series of random events unconnected by any general laws or forces. The idea of progress as an advance, the idea of evolution, loses all its meaning in such a framework. Consequently the possibility of encouraging that progress or directing it is ruled out.
Secondly, in abandoning the scientific method, postmodernism does not enrich our theoretical understanding or our practical activity directed towards creating a more just social order. Rather, it robs us of knowledge and thereby disempowers us as a force for progressive change.
Thirdly, in its capitulation to the capitalist ideological offensive against any notion of collectivism, postmodernism divides and fragments the movements and imbues them with a pessimistic and demobilising outlook.
In sum, postmodernism abandons the project of achieving fundamental social change for a sort of radical liberalism. To the extent that it is liberalism, that is, non-materialist and utopian, postmodernism is little different from the various other intellectual and cultural retreats from the struggle against capitalism which have accompanied the loss of confidence of middle class liberals in their ability to provide a rational, scientific explanation of society.
In this respect, postmodernism is dangerous for the working-class movement and for all progressive movements. Every serious movement for social justice sooner or later comes up against the barrier of power and private profit. Which way that movement develops — whether it continues to challenge this power and moves forward, or capitulates to it — is crucial. Liberalism has historically always opted to capitulate.
[This is the abridged text of a talk presented to the International Green Left Conference in Sydney, April 1-4.]
FAQs
What does postmodernism say about politics? ›
Postmodernism in political science refers to the use of postmodern ideas in political science. Postmodernists believe that many situations which are considered political in nature can not be adequately discussed in traditional realist and liberal approaches to political science.
What are 5 characteristics of postmodernism? ›Many postmodernists hold one or more of the following views: (1) there is no objective reality; (2) there is no scientific or historical truth (objective truth); (3) science and technology (and even reason and logic) are not vehicles of human progress but suspect instruments of established power; (4) reason and logic ...
What is the concept of postmodernism? ›Postmodernism can be seen as a reaction against the ideas and values of modernism, as well as a description of the period that followed modernism's dominance in cultural theory and practice in the early and middle decades of the twentieth century.
What is the main contribution of postmodernism to political analysis? ›In uncovering the values and assumptions underlying supposedly neutral research and political theory, postmodernists have greatly aided critical analysis of political science; firstly, in revealing that 'theory is always for someone and for some purpose' (Cox, 1981: 128), and secondly, in emphasising the need for ...
What is the goal of postmodernism? ›As a philosophy, postmodernism rejects concepts of rationality, objectivity, and universal truth. Instead, it emphasizes the diversity of human experience and multiplicity of perspectives.
Is postmodernism a theory? ›Postmodernism relies on critical theory, which considers the effects of ideology, society, and history on culture. Postmodernism and critical theory commonly criticize universalist ideas of objective reality, morality, truth, human nature, reason, language, and social progress.
What are the main features of postmodernism? ›- Irony.
- Pastiche.
- Hyperreality.
- Intertextuality.
- Magical realism.
- Unpredictability.
- Distortion of time.
- Themes of paranoia.
FOLLOWING the great American modernist poets of the first decades of the 20th century -- Pound, Eliot, Williams -- Charles Olson is the father of the "postmodernists" of the second half of the century, bridging Pound & Co. to such major poets as Robert Duncan and Robert Creeley.
How does postmodernism affect society? ›Postmodernism affects views and lifestyles, which in turn affects the young adult's performance of roles and his interactions within all his different social systems. A strong attachment to family and home, as well as the importance of roles as sons/daughters were found.
Is postmodernism still relevant today? ›Indeed in the previous decades before us, postmodernism was in vogue in the academic settings of our country and in the Western world. It's not necessarily that way today. You still find it in literary departments. You still find it, unfortunately, sometimes in theology departments.
What is a postmodern society? ›
In philosophy and critical theory postmodernity refers to the state or condition of society which is said to exist after modernity, a historical condition that marks the reasons for the end of modernity. This usage is ascribed to the philosophers Jean-François Lyotard and Jean Baudrillard.
How did postmodernism begin? ›Post-modernism, as it appeared in the 1970s, is often linked with the philosophical movement Poststructuralism, in which philosophers such as Jacques Derrida proposed that structures within a culture were artificial and could be deconstructed in order to be analyzed.
What is the criticism of postmodernism? ›Criticism of more artistic post-modern movement such as post-modern art or literature may include objections to a departure from beauty, lack of coherence or comprehensibility, deviating from clear structure and the consistent use of dark and negative themes.
How do postmodernists view international relations? ›The majority of postmodern approaches to international relations question or reject the validity of the 'heroic practice' which problematizes the anarchy of the international system, whilst normalising the state monopoly on violence as part of the prevailing discourse on domestic sovereignty.
What is the difference between modernism and postmodernism? ›The main difference between modernism and postmodernism is that modernism is characterized by the radical break from the traditional forms of prose and verse whereas postmodernism is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions.
Does postmodernism believe in God? ›Eclecticism and non-dogmatic theology
Postmodern religion considers that there are no universal religious truths or laws. Rather, reality is shaped by social, historical, and cultural contexts according to the individual, place, and/or time.
Postmodern culture is characterized by the valuing of activities, events, and perspectives that emphasize the particular over the global or the fragment over the whole. This reversal of a modernist ideology necessitates a valuation of variation and flexibility in the cultural sphere.
Why is postmodernism hard to define? ›The difficulty of defining postmodernism as a concept stems from its wide usage in a range of cultural and critical movements since the 1970s. Postmodernism describes not only a period but also a set of ideas, and can only be understood in relation to another equally complex term: modernism.
Who supported postmodernism? ›7.2.1 Jean Francois Lyotard
Jean Francois Lyotard, the French political philosopher and cultural critic, is one of the most influential figures of postmodern philosophy.
Postmodernism is one of the most controversial movements in art and design history. Over two decades, from about 1970 to 1990, Postmodernism shattered established ideas about art and design, bringing a new self-awareness about style itself.
Is postmodernism a philosophy? ›
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement that began in the late 1970s. The postmodernist philosophy rejects traditional concepts of logic, objective truth, and human nature. Postmodernists believe that there are no universal truths or objective realities and all meaning is constructed by each individual.
What is postmodernism literary theory? ›Postmodern literature is a form of literature that is characterized by the use of metafiction, unreliable narration, self-reflexivity, intertextuality, and which often thematizes both historical and political issues.
What does postmodernism say about humanity? ›Postmodernism rejects the common origin of humans just as it rejects any constant and definite truth in ontology topics. They believe that human identity is constructed by national and local culture and is specifically influenced by three key cultural features of gender, social class, and race.
What are the three elements of postmodern literature? ›The Key Elements of Postmodern Literature
The notable literary devices of postmodern literature are paradox, unreliable narrators, unrealistic narratives, parody and dark humor. Most postmodern literature also rejects the idea of a single theme or meaning, choosing instead to have many meanings or forgo theme entirely.
The foundations of postmodernism are thus located in the philosophical currents of anti-foundationalism, anti-essentialism, anti-representationalism, and anti-dualism. Scepticism underlines much of postmodernist thought in that the validity of the roots of discourse is challenged.
Who influenced postmodernism? ›It was greatly influenced by the writings of Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche in the 19th century and other early-to-mid 20th-century philosophers, including phenomenologists Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, structuralist Roland Barthes, Georges Bataille, and the later work of ...
Is postmodernism subjective or objective? ›Postmodernism argues that people are fundamentally subjective because their unique beliefs and values alter the way they organize factual data. Thus, the narratives they construct around data will also be subjective.
What are the challenges of postmodernism? ›Displaying incredulity toward grand narratives, postmodernism not only questions but also challenges modernism's claims to universal reason, objectivity, neutrality, superiority of science, and the belief in progressive emancipation or human betterment through its anti-essentialist and anti-foundationalist character.
What are the advantages of postmodernism? ›Advantages. Postmodernism has tried to interpret the new social and cultural changes such as the opening up of the Eastern Bloc. It has attempted to analyse the growing impact of mass media on society. It has challenged the absolutist positions of teh old metanarrative: Functionalism, Marxism etc.
What elements are present in a postmodernist society? ›The main characteristics of postmodern society are subjectivity, diversity, skepticism, and innovation.
What is a disadvantage of postmodernism? ›
Postmodernists contradict themselves. Exaggerate the amount of social change that has happened (Giddens - late modernity) MARXISM-Harvey, Marxism has already explained changes in society and postmodern ideas are not new.
What replaced postmodernism? ›Metamodernism is the cultural code that comes after postmodernism.
Is the 21st century postmodern? ›In contrast, the '21st century' is a postmodern period – the 'post', in this sense, means 'after' modernity.
What is postmodern identity? ›A postmodern society is one in which the identities of the social actors are undergoing constant transformation. Identity then becomes open to contestation as there is no longer any ultimate referent (truth, science, God etc.) to provide universal legitimation.
What is the difference between modern and postmodern society? ›According to post-modernists one Fundamental difference between the post-modern society and modern society is that our society is consumer oriented, rather than work oriented. This means that consuming things, and leisure activities are more important today than work.
What is an example of postmodern culture? ›Perhaps his best-known example of the postmodern culture of pastiche is what he calls the 'nostalgia film'. The category could include a number of films from the 1980s and 1990s: Back to the Future I and II, Peggy Sue Got Married, Rumble Fish, Angel Heart, Blue Velvet.
What events led to postmodernism? ›As implied by its name, the Postmodernist period occurred directly after the Modernist period. Events that inspired this movement were the end of World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the Civil Rights movement. Postmodernism works were characterized by multiple qualities.
When did postmodernism emerge? ›The term “postmodernism” first entered the philosophical lexicon in 1979, with the publication of The Postmodern Condition by Jean-François Lyotard.
What is postmodernism essay? ›Post-modernism is a school of thought or a tendency in contemporary culture which rejects modernism. It is characterized by the rejection of objective truth and global cultural narrative. It emphasizes the role of language, power relations, and motivations.
How has postmodernism affected religion? ›Postmodernism does away with many of the things that religious people regard as essential. For postmodernists every society is in a state of constant change; there are no absolute values, only relative ones; nor are there any absolute truths.
What are the major theories of international relations? ›
The five main theories of international relations include: realism theory, liberalism theory, Marxism theory, constructivism theory, and feminism theory.
What is double reading in postmodernism? ›Double reading is the other means used by Postmodernists to read a text more deeply and realize how there is always more than one reading.
Why is liberalism important in international relations? ›With the proper institutions and diplomacy, Liberals believe that states can work together to maximize prosperity and minimize conflict. Liberalism is one of the main schools of international relations theory. Liberalism comes from the Latin liber meaning "free", referring originally to the philosophy of freedom.
What thing most distinguishes postmodernism from modernism? ›- Modernism is a school of thought that took place in late 1800s and early 1900s while postmodernism is a school of thought that took place after World War II.
- Modernism advocated rational thinking and the use of science and reason for the advancement of man while postmodernism believed in the irrationality of things.
| Modernism | Postmodernism |
|---|---|
| Unreliable narrator | Ironic narrator |
| Rejection of realism | Ambivalence towards realism |
| Literature is self-contained | Literature is open and intertextual |
| High-brow genres | Mixing of high- and low-brow genres |
- Universal truth can't be known.
- Reason is subjective.
- Objective knowledge is a myth.
- The world is too complex to be explained by any worldview claiming to have objective knowledge of absolute truth.
- There is no God to give meaning to the world.
- Societies, like humans, are biased.
- No one is neutral.
Criticism of more artistic post-modern movement such as post-modern art or literature may include objections to a departure from beauty, lack of coherence or comprehensibility, deviating from clear structure and the consistent use of dark and negative themes.
What is postmodernism theory in international relations? ›Postmodernism theory of international relations argues that there is no objective reality in the world, everything involving human beings is subjective in nature.
What thing most distinguishes postmodernism from modernism? ›- Modernism is a school of thought that took place in late 1800s and early 1900s while postmodernism is a school of thought that took place after World War II.
- Modernism advocated rational thinking and the use of science and reason for the advancement of man while postmodernism believed in the irrationality of things.
What assumptions shape the New Spiritualist understanding of politics? Autarchy: the rule of oneself; self-government. To New Spiritualists, personal power could lead to transformation on a global scale, transcending all material and individual boundaries - including national and political ones.
Who is the father of postmodernism? ›
FOLLOWING the great American modernist poets of the first decades of the 20th century -- Pound, Eliot, Williams -- Charles Olson is the father of the "postmodernists" of the second half of the century, bridging Pound & Co. to such major poets as Robert Duncan and Robert Creeley.
Is postmodernism still relevant today? ›Indeed in the previous decades before us, postmodernism was in vogue in the academic settings of our country and in the Western world. It's not necessarily that way today. You still find it in literary departments. You still find it, unfortunately, sometimes in theology departments.
Why is postmodernism hard to define? ›The difficulty of defining postmodernism as a concept stems from its wide usage in a range of cultural and critical movements since the 1970s. Postmodernism describes not only a period but also a set of ideas, and can only be understood in relation to another equally complex term: modernism.
When did postmodernism begin? ›Postmodernism had begun as a radical fringe movement in the 1970s, but became the dominant look of the 1980s, the 'designer decade'. Vivid colour, theatricality and exaggeration: everything was a style statement.
What are the seven assumptions on which postmodernism rests? ›- Universal truth can't be known.
- Reason is subjective.
- Objective knowledge is a myth.
- The world is too complex to be explained by any worldview claiming to have objective knowledge of absolute truth.
- There is no God to give meaning to the world.
- Societies, like humans, are biased.
- No one is neutral.
The five main theories of international relations include: realism theory, liberalism theory, Marxism theory, constructivism theory, and feminism theory.
How does postmodernism affect society? ›Postmodernism affects views and lifestyles, which in turn affects the young adult's performance of roles and his interactions within all his different social systems. A strong attachment to family and home, as well as the importance of roles as sons/daughters were found.
What is a postmodern society? ›In philosophy and critical theory postmodernity refers to the state or condition of society which is said to exist after modernity, a historical condition that marks the reasons for the end of modernity. This usage is ascribed to the philosophers Jean-François Lyotard and Jean Baudrillard.
What is the difference between modern and postmodern society? ›According to post-modernists one Fundamental difference between the post-modern society and modern society is that our society is consumer oriented, rather than work oriented. This means that consuming things, and leisure activities are more important today than work.