postmodernism

Question 1

loss of the monopoly of truth and the relativist position - lyotard

Answer 1

social structures such as religion and the family have broken down in the postmodern world, which creates uncertainty and means there is no monopoly of truth - this leads people to take a relativist position, where they have their own individual beliefs and there is no value consensus

e.g. people may leave their religious organisation if the teachings conflict with their view on abortion or homosexuality, there has been family diversity such as the increase in same-sex families and lone parent families, as well as sperm donor babies

this shows how social structures have collapsed, leading to uncertainty and more freedom as there are multiple truths

Question 2

loss of monopoly of truth and the relativist position AO3

Answer 2

functionalism argues there still is a shared value consensus in a postmodern world e.g. when someone commits a crime, the media scrutinises them which reinforces shared norms and values (boundary maintenance)

Question 3

choice, identity and consumption

Answer 3

individuals are now consumers, where we can make our own choice in what we consume. we can form our own identities based on what we personally see as important - pick and mix identities

the kendal project found that there was a decrease in the congregational domain and an increase in the holistic milieu - this shows people can now choose their own beliefs as they can now try out spirituality to see if it works for them

Question 4

choice, identity and consumption AO3

Answer 4

marxism/feminism argues not everyone has unlimited choice in a postmodern society e.g. women are too busy playing out the expressive housewife role, whereas the working-class cannot afford to choose due to their impoverishment

Question 5

globalisation

Answer 5

the interconnectedness of the world - different societies are more connected, meaning there is an increase in the pick and mix identity

these include technological changes such as the interpol, which is an international crime organisation that has access to cctv all over the world to catch crime, and cultural changes as there is more religious and family diversity from other cultures

Question 6

globalisation AO3

Answer 6

culturally biased as it assumes all countries accept globalisation

the taliban are a fundamentalist group in afghanistan that enjoy certainty and since globalisation brings about uncertainty they isolate themselves from the rest of the world and resist globalisation

Question 7

hyper reality and simulacra - lyotard

Answer 7

society has become media saturated, and due to this obsession a hyper reality has been created - the signs and symbols consumed in the media appear more real than reality

people are now obsessed with signs and symbols e.g. buying air jordans for the branding and design as opposed to for the quality of the project, despite its production cost being lower than its selling price

the media treats fictional characters as real people and can appear on the front page of newspapers e.g. hayley cropper’s death in coronation made it on frontpage news, showing that people are now lost in a hyper reality

Question 8

hyper reality and simulacra AO3

Answer 8

philo and miller argue postmodernism is wrong to assume people cannot distinguish between media and reality - ignores important of free will, and wrongly assumes we are all controlled by the simulacra