Are We Living in a Postmodern Society - Essay Example

Are We Living in a Postmodern Society? s Knowledge and Belief Department 24th February In the process of its development and progress, the society has experienced numerous transitions between different epochs inseparably connected to the complex system of worldviews and beliefs. Moreover, the entire being of the society has always been based on the wide range of social, philosophical, cultural and political frameworks. Thereby, on the turn of the twentieth century, humanity experienced dramatic revolution in the way of thinking; the history of the century redunding with milestone events and radical changes in society, technology, culture, lifestyle and other areas. We have survived two devastating world wars and seen the events that are capable of destroying Homo sapiens as a species. The twentieth century has fundamentally changed the most stable and conservative domain of our existence, daily life. Flow of new technologies, powerful means of communication – radio, telephone, television, computers, photo and video devices – have penetrated into our daily life and transformed it, and us. The genie of technologies, released by the human has eventually drawn our humanness into question, overwhelming us. Moreover, due to dramatic advance in communication media, the world became “holistic”, the unitary and rather small whole. Wide opportunities in terms of information and communication available for the entire global society are defined by telecommunication system. The latter expands communicational opportunities of the individual and allows him/her to “gain immediate membership” in the society without any groups and systems. Therefore, it produces direct impact on politics, state affairs, organization and management, labor, leisure and culture. Modernism The dawn and the first half of the twentieth century was marked by rise of modernism as a large-scale social and cultural phenomenon, first of all, in the Western civilization. Essence of modernization is often related to the worldwide popularization of such values as rational thinking, prudence, urbanization, and industrialization. Modernist paradigm implies such key features as justification, objectivity, proof and unity of science (Williams & Sewpaul, 2004, p.555); objective reality was believed to be researchable and conceivable from the rational viewpoint. Developed capitalist countries lived in conditions of mature industrial society; where mass production went hand in hand with technological advances, theorists promoted transition from the cultural norms and values accepted in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to something principally new, triggering active searches for new approaches (for instance, in visual art with its variety of unconventional styles like cubism, fauvism, expressionism, primitivism etc.). The philosophy holding the dominating position in the modernist society of the first half of the twentieth century was verificationinsm or, in other words, common belief that anything really existing can be verified or checked by the five senses or science; therefore, this proved meaninglessness of everything ethereal, that cannot be verified empirically (Craig, 2008). In such system, even religious and ethical components of the society couldn’t be verified and thus went to the background of social and cultural life as subjective expressions of personal taste. The society tended to consider traditional forms of organization, art, daily life, architecture, philosophy and even science out-of-date in the context of the new conditions. However, despite denial of conventional norms of the previous centuries in most spheres of live, modernist trajectory of development seemed rather vigorous and daring in its framework of unitary capitalist worldview. Sociology as a discipline emerged in the modernist environment, too, being the reflection of the modernist type of society. Therefore, the characteristic feature of modernism is sociologism, the principle implying that the society and the position held within it act as a basis for explanation and evaluation of individuals’ behavior. Since that time, an individual has been viewed as an actor defined by his/her role, who ensures functioning of the social system via adequate role behavior. Among the most important aspects of modernism, there’s an admission of the fact that economy and economic system implicitly predetermine the type of the society, as they create rules of social order and social integration. Thus, economic aspect plays a dominating role, producing substantial impact on social relations and culture. However, by the 1970’s of the 20th century, the society had found itself in a principally new state, the new postindustrial epoch had come undermining and denying all the ground principles of modernism: postmodernism deprived economy of its role in life of the society. Postmodernism Postmodernism is mainly considered to have emerged in the 1970’s as a complete opposition for modernism in most spheres of society’s life, denying rationalism and the unitary capitalistic path for all the countries. Postmodernists devaluated superiority of the separate traditions or norms, promoting the ideas of pluralism with multiple subjective and equal viewpoints. “Pluralism and simultaneity replace monism and linear direction” (Smith, 2005, p.2). Postmodernism as a new frame of mind emerged in response to a range of events and conditions that were shocking for the society. People saw dynamic power play in politics and true elusive nature of democracy, danger of possible ecological disaster (as a side effect of industrialization), ruining cultural identity under the influence of globalization, corrupt mechanisms of politics (where consent is often reached through market relations rather than ideological indoctrination as it was in modernity. In the conditions of globalization that have been existing since the dawn of the 20th century, the collision of numerous different cultures elevated value of each of them. Further development in technology led to the breakthrough in production of cultural phenomena; mass production of culture-related goods was launched, and culture became pluralistic, diverse, heterogeneous and mosaic-like. Combination of various means of expression, ideas, opinions and viewpoints became completely free of rules or prescriptions. In science, the classical hierarchy of cognition methods was undermined, whereas pluralism of methods and approaches became the key principle. In opposition to modernism, one could single out certain ground conceptual principles cultivated in postmodernism: processes of demassification and destandartization are emphasized; development of society cannot be predicted, therefore, there is no emphasis on future; breakaway from existing forms of industrial production; character of reality perception is changed; the role of the human transits from stimuli and motivation to norms of behavior and value system. Modernism offered reasonable grounds for functional differentiation between the spheres of life and – particularly – belief that culture, science and economy shouldn’t experience interference of religion and tradition. However, as absolute faith in the values of the scientific progress and economic growth ruins, this functional differentiation turns into the chaotic fragmentation of life. Therefore, the mess in fragmentation and specialization of different spheres of life contributes to growing disappointment in the concept of general welfare. Thus, as the result, postmodernist society senses frailty and instability. Postmodernist way of thinking is aimed at the sole present (right now) rather than at analysis of the past or construction of the future. Within the fragmentized society, separate strategies of behavior are developed, moreover, they aren’t unified within a certain common – universal – framework. The world of modernism, the world of coherently interconnected social and cultural forces, falls apart and leaves people in a confusing environment, which is considered dissimilar to the society in its traditional meaning. Postmodernist society is so far from that of the 19th century or even of the first half of the 20th century, because all its components move around their own axes, being distanced from each other. Therefore, the society cannot be viewed as the complex of well-organized institutions. Do we live in postmodernist society? The array of opinions about the epoch we live in is rather wide, with many scholars supporting the idea of postmodernism in modern days’ society and criticizing it. However, the opinion that we live in postmodern society has already become a kind of stereotype and is often attributed to many spheres of life. Thereby, postmodernism is understood as the opposite of modernism and the phenomenon incompatible with it, postmodernism appears to undermine the ideas and conditions of modernism and creates new conditions in the world. At the same time, it is natural that there are no absolutes, and no tendency or theoretical framework can dominate the global society solely, without being combined with other principles. Viewing the society we live in from the point of postmodernism, it is necessary to understand postmodernism itself. Of course, one of the core domains, where postmodernist influence can be clearly sensed, is culture. According to Louis Hoffman, “the statement that we are living in postmodern times is an acknowledgement of postmodernisms influence on contemporary culture” (Hoffman, 2008). This statement indicates that postmodernist theoretical framework produces impact on development of culture in all its manifestations: from popular cinematographic works to songs and commercials. The strong postmodernist influences is present in the bulk of Hollywood products, where numerous films containing apocalyptic elements in their plot are created annually: filmmakers show various types of devastating disasters, particularly, ecological/natural cataclysms. This tendency can be interpreted as an intention to entertain, but – as far as art is extremely sensitive to all changes in the moods of the society – it is rather likely that this is the effect of postmodernist frame of mind: we do not construct happy future, we are afraid of ecological collapse and admit it as inevitable, if the world doesn’t change its way of living. At the same time, modern culture produces its products on a large scale, the wide array of films, music releases and works of art is chaotic and diverse, with the topics of postmodernist framework often touched upon. Next, in postmodernist society, the structures of organization undergo certain changes, with highly hierarchized and centralized institutions being ruined. There is the transition between hierarchical and network organization, which is present in our everyday life and numerous network corporations. Moreover, bureaucratic apparatus and regulation lose their significance, giving way to free market and free competition. As we see nowadays, the state is reluctant to take responsibility for economic regulation and thus supports free enterprise, competitiveness and self-sufficiency. Our society is profoundly uncertain about the future: crisis world perception dominates among people, who often find it difficult to orientate themselves in the whirl of separate heterogeneous elements and events. The power players change rapidly in the international arena and so do regimes and overall economic and political conditions. Furthermore, an individual feels him/herself helpless and in the chaotic diversity of the society: leaving the idea of common welfare typical for capitalistic modernism behind, the society got into a mess. Whereas modernist society was primarily focused on achievement of common welfare and benefit, postmodernist view on society narrowed participation of the state to the extent enough for a group of power players to multiply their benefits. In other words, the society is viewed not as the system of social integration and control, but rather as the system of suppression on the part of a restricted group of people in charge of financial assets, influence and information. However, despite strong features of postmodernism in the modern society, the latter has preserved certain features of modernity and it could be even stated that our society contains rather large parts of postmodernism and modernism, which intertwine and coexist. For instance, one of the most visible features of modernism seen nowadays is globalization. Despite growing significance of cultural diversity and identity, the society has been unified by the effect of global communication system, economic consolidation etc. The technological progress allows one to be a part of the global community and – on one hand – preserves the modernist idea of unification. On the other hand, postmodernist tendency is traced in fragmentation and cultural diversity. Conclusion Considering the characteristic features typical for modernism and postmodernism, one can see that these two phenomena are predominantly opposite and are generally expected to be mutually exclusive. Modernism was formed by the myth of progress and hope to create better conditions in the society with help of technological advance and industry. Nevertheless, these two factors have proved to be potentially dangerous for the society, with numerous hidden perils: technology has evolved to the state, in which it produces negative impacts on people, and industrial development has turned to be the source of danger for the world’s ecology (the fact, which eventually became one of the causes of postmodernist uncertainty and fear of the disaster). Postmodernism, in its turn, was driven by the belief in insufficiency and potential danger of the “idol” of progress. As a result, modern society is in the crisis state, yet chaos and disintegration of the “homogeneous” world can be seen as the positive phenomenon from the modernist point of view, as it presupposes wide range of opportunities to create something new. In general, modernism is perceived as the positive and promising state of the society, whereas postmodernism proves uncertain and more pessimistic. However, in the modern world, these two concepts coexist, it is impossible to say that we live in a purely postmodernist or modernist society; because many spheres of life are still dominated by modernist idea, whereas postmodernism controls others, for instance, art and culture in terms of cultural diversity and identity and decline of Eurocentrism. Finally, speaking about the state of mind typical for a modern member of society, one could state that human thoughts and perceptions in this unstable world torn by natural disasters and wars are mainly driven by postmodernism, whereas modernist tendencies still persist in certain domains of social, economic and political life. References CRAIG, W. L. (2008) Do We Live in a Post-Modern Society? Reasonable Faith with William Lane Craig. [Online] Available from: http://www.reasonablefaith.org/do-we-live-in-a-post-modern-society [Accessed February 24, 2015] HOFFMAN, L. (2008) Differentiating Between Postmodern Culture & Postmodern Theory. Postmodernism and Psychology. [Online] Available from: http://www.postmodernpsychology.com/main_topics/culture_and_theory.htm [Accessed February 24, 2015] SMITH, R. A. (1995) The question of modernism and postmodernism. Arts Education Policy Review, 96, 6, p. 2. [Online] Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost. Available from: http://www.ebscohost.com/ [Accessed February 24, 2015] WILLIAMS, L. & SEWPAUL, V. (2004) Modernism, postmodernism and global standards setting. Social Work Education, 23, 5, pp. 555-565. [Online] SocINDEX with Full Text, EBSCOhost. Available from: http://www.ebscohost.com/ [Accessed February 24, 2015] Read More