Postmodernism

Foucault (1980): Meta-narratives

Argues that society can no longer be understood in terms of 'grand theories'—theories that claim to have the 'true story' on how society is organised. Grand theories (or meta-narratives)—such as Marxism and Functionalism are therefore completely rejected by PM. PM argue that there are a range of different, competing theories, which all try and explain how society works, but there isn't one dominant theory. They are all equal. They are all competing. PM refer to this as the 'relativity of knowledge'—Everyone has viewpoints that are equally valid. In a PM we are not looking for absolute truths as these are irrelevant in our diverse and fragmented postmodern world.

Pakulski & Waters (1992): Rapid Change

Believe that society is changing rapidly and is constantly at threat of chaos, uncertainty and risk. This postmodern world is challenging many existing ideas that existed in a modern world.

Pakulski & Waters (1996): Classless Society

Class is dead as an important factor in a person's identity. It has been replaced with lifestyle and consumption of different status groups rather than class groups. Class identity has fragmented into numerous separate identities. Young people especially, have more choice in how they want to construct their identity, such as through sexuality, gender, ethnicity etc. Consumer culture has replaced culture as the major influence on people's identity. The media has a major influence on our identity through music, fashion, entertainment and this in turn influences how we dress, listen to music and spend our leisure time.

Pakulski & Waters (1992): Choice/Pick n Mix

Argue that a PM world is saturated by a consumer culture in which individuals are free to 'pick n mix' their identities and lifestyles. It's all about mixing and matching contradictory styles to create new ones. They choose these from an endless range of constantly changing consumer goods and leisure activities. Our society is 'media-saturated' which along with society as a whole getting wealthier, means that we can 'make over' things like gardens, houses or even ourselves!

Srinati (1995): Creating Identity

Argues that our identities are influenced by mainstream popular culture which celebrates diversity, consumerism and choice. In a modern society identity of 'me' was characterised by your family, your social class, your background. However, in a PM society the construction of 'me' is now about 'creating your identity' through designer labels, going to the right places to eat, drink, holiday, stay, listening to the right music etc.

Taylor (1999): Shopping Mall

Notes that society has been transformed into "something resembling and endless shopping mall where people have much greater choice about how they look, what they consume and what they believe in".

Srinati (1999): Role of Popular Culture

1. Society is now dominated by the media and therefore the boundaries between reality and media images becomes unclear.
2. More emphasis on style over substance—its all about designer labels rather than quality of clothing.
3. Art and popular culture are coming together e.g. Pop Art.
4. Social life is speeding up through technology, globalisation.