Postmodernism Flashcards
What do postmoderists believe
We are in a whole new society so modern theories are no longer useful
We need a whole new theory to explain this as we have entered a post-modern society
What is classed/ included in a pre-modern society
Extended families
Family performed many functions (medical, educational)
Agricultural
Local community
Pre-industrial
Pre-capitalism
What is classed/ included in a modern society
Capitalism brought on by industrialisation
Urbanisation - moving to city for factory work
Individualism- weakening in traditions and gone from ascribed to achieved status
Decline in magico religious worldviews - secular state (gov less aligned with the church)
Traditiona gender norms
Which theories are modernists
Functionalsims, marxism, feminism
What is classed/ included in a postmodern world
Increased diversity
Choice in all aspects of life
Consumerism
Advanced technolog and media
Media saturated
Hyper-reality
Uncertainty
Who are the three postmodernists we look at
Lyotard
Foucault
Baudrillard
What does Lyotard say - ‘Crisis in knowledge’
Anti-foundationalism - cannot prove whether knowledge is true - so it cannot be used to improve society
Reletivism- no one truth - all views are valid
Modern theories claim one truth (meta-narrative) which claim a monopoly of truth - dangerous
In postmodern society there are many competing views - allows for marginalised groups to be heard: women, #metoo movement, BLM
What are some evaluation point for Lyotards ‘Crisis in knowledge’
Break down of one truth has negative sides- AI and deep fakes, fake news
Not all views are equally valid - misogyny racism
Contradictory - why believe a theory that claims there is no one truth
Positivism ‘social facts’ can be used to improve society
Ignores structural inequalities - not everyone has freedom to share views, oppressed women, censorships
What does Foucault say - ‘Knowledge is power’
Powerful use knowledge to control other people - medical experts labelling people as mentally ill
Knowledge used to control people in trusted institutions but in postmodern society we no longer have trust institutions, decline in meta-narratives
Knowledge is shared and we can hold institutions accountable
What are three positives of Foucaults ‘Knowledge is power’
Recognise the effect of globalisation on new society
Can identity features we observe in todays society - diversity
Recognises choice people have in own identity
What is one negative of Foucaults ‘knowledge is power’
Modernists and late: it is pessimistic to suggest knowledge cannot be used to improve society (works as a criticism for lyotards too)
Not everyone can hold institutions accountable - ignores structural inequalities that the poor cannot bring action
What does Baudrillard say - ‘Crisis in representation’
We are in a media saturated society
Simulacra - copy or imitation of real things: filters, photoshops
Tv is the main source of simulacra and creates a hyper-reality where we cannot tell reality from false images: AI Deepfakes
What two negatives of Baudrillards ‘Crisis in repressentation’
Undermines intelligence- gotton better at knowing when someone is fake - plagarism checks
Outdated - social media contributess to simulacra more than but is still relevant
