Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Social movements: Social movements are organized, collective efforts by a group of individuals or organizations to bring about or resist social, political, or cultural change. They can be social, political, economic, or cultural in nature, and often involve protests, demonstrations, boycotts, and lobbying. See also Society, Politics, Community._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Postmodernism on Social Movements - Dictionary of Arguments
Gaus I 272 Social movements/Postmodernism/West: What has been described as the 'mood of postmodernity', (...), involves scepticism about precisely (...) universal values and 'grand metanarratives' and an enthusiastic celebration of diversity and 'difference'. >Cf. >Social movements/Habermas, >Modernism/Touraine. Touraine and Habermas, with their commitment to classically modern values like autonomy and rationality and variations on the Marxian schema of critical theory, are both evidently theorists of modernity. Postmodernism/West: What has been described as the 'mood‘ In this spirit, post-modernist theorists frequently refer to NSMs [New Social Movemets] as proof of the irreducible plurality of 'subject positions' and 'voices' characteristic of postmodern Western societies in the aftermath of the unifying (universalizing and 'essentializing') project of Marxism (Laclau and Mouffe, 1985(1); Lyotard, 1984)(2). Diversity: However, although postmodernists are sceptical of any attempt to impose unifying or 'totalizing' theoretical constructions on the irreducible diversity of social life, a number of theorists nevertheless seek a more general understanding of NSMs as responses to the arrival of postmodernity. * Capitalism/Postmodernism/Lash/Urry: (...) postmodernity is characterized in terms of social and economic developments that are already familiar from theorists of modernity. Characteristic in this respect is Lash and Urry's (1987)(3) theory of 'disorganized capitalism'. Their notion of disorganized capitalism refers to a series of social and — the replacement of economic developments 'Fordism' by 'post-Fordism', the internationalization of production and finance, the relative decline of manufacturing and rise of the service sector, and the related decline of the traditional working class and the rise of 'new middle classes'. Like other theorists of NSMs, Lash and Urry associate these developments with the shift from the organized class politics of industrialized societies to the new politics ofNSMs (1987(3): 311). Culture: An important further consequence of these economic, social and political developments is the increasing importance of culture as a site of domination and resistance: 'domination through cultural forms takes on significance in disorganized capitalism which is comparable in importance to domination in the sphere of production itself' (1987(3): 14) >Culture/Lash/Urry. *Some like Lyotard (1984), who understands the 'mood' of postmodernity as a feature of 'postindustrial' societies, effectively attempt to do both. 1. Laclau, Ernesto and Chantal Mouffe (1985) Hegemony and Socialist Strategv: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics. London: Verso. 2. Lyotard, J. F. (1984) The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans. G. Bennington and B. Massumi. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 3. Lash, Scott and John Urry (1987) The End of Organized Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity. West, David 2004. „New Social Movements“. In: Gaus, Gerald F. & Kukathas, Chandran 2004. Handbook of Political Theory. SAGE Publications_____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Postmodernism Gaus I Gerald F. Gaus Chandran Kukathas Handbook of Political Theory London 2004 |
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> Counter arguments against Postmodernism
> Counter arguments in relation to Social Movements
