Postmodernism

Question 1

What is postmodernism?

Answer 1

• postmodernism cannot be described as a sociological theory as their ideas are often contradictory
• post modernists believe we are in an era of postmodernist in which knowledge production via media is more important than mass production
• they also believe that peoples identities are increasingly becoming more based on personal choice and individualism rather than based on social structures
• so postmodernist disagree with structural theories like Marxism and functionalism

Question 2

what does Lyotard (1984) say about the social world?

Answer 2

• Lyotard argues that we should stop trying to explain the social world using grand theories like functionalism and Marxism and should instead focus on the small parts of the social world and try to understand them from a variety of viewpoints
• postmodernists reject the idea that society can be explained using science instead basing their ideas on opinions

Question 3

what are the evaluation points of postmodernism?

Answer 3

+helps sociologists focus on change: -postmodernism helps sociologists focus on many of the changes taking place in the workd today like individualism
-undermines the view that we can understand the world around s using science: -many sociologists however are reluctant to fully accept the ideas of postmodernism because their theories are based on opinions rather than systematic research