Postmodernism

Question 1

Features of pre-modernity

Answer 1

faith in religions and other superstitions
acceptance of hierarchies
Mass illiteracy and superstitions

Question 2

Features of modernity

Answer 2

Enlightenment brought wider education and rationality
Faith in science and medicine]religion challenged by eta narratives such as Marxism
industrialisation, capitalism, and colonialism
stratification by gender, class, and ethnicity

Question 3

Features of postmodernity

Answer 3

Media images, consumption, and lifestyle choices becoming main source of identity
party politics replaced by identity politics e.g. gay, feminist, religious
objective truth is undiscoverable with a loss of faith in science.
rapid change causing meta-narratives to no longer apply
science not always being a force for good e.g. weapons and global warming

Question 4

Who are the two main theories for postmodernism?

Answer 4

Lyotard and Baudrillard

Question 5

What did Lyotard say?

Answer 5

Empirical evidence has lost its importance. Statements cannot be judged as right or wrong as we now reject meta narratives. There is no absolute truth - science is just one way of seeing the world eg. fake news.

Question 6

Evaluation for Lyotard

Answer 6

Creates a metanarrative in rejecting them

there is little proof to support this, this is just speculation

Question 7

What did Baudrillard say?

Answer 7

The economy isn’t based on the production of goods (Marxism) but of signs and images e.g. pop stars. this happens in four stages, basic reality. perverted reality, masking the absence of basic reality, simulacra - the image has never existed and could never exist.

Question 8

What is Hyper reality?

Answer 8

A view of the world that is created and defined by the media. The image of an event is more impactful than the actual event itself

Question 9

How does Giddens evaluate postmodernism?

Answer 9

we are in late or high modernity. Individualism has changed in two way, becoming more disembedding (face to face interactions are unnecessary) and reflective (traditions no longer tell us how to act)

Question 10

How does Beck evaluate postmodernism?

Answer 10

“risk society” all risks are now manufactured by humans and we need to reflect on things to calculate risk and improve human behaviour and achieve progress.

Question 11

How does Harvey evaluate postmodernism?

Answer 11

this is just an extension of capitalism. Globalisation, rapid cultural change, consumerism, and less traditional values are part of capitalism growing in order to ensure enhanced and sustainable profits for the ruling class.