Postmodernity

Postmodernity explores the key issues that arise in debates over modernity and postmodernity. It provides students with a stimulating and accessible introduction to both the contentious notion of postmodernity and the major themes and issues addressed in associated debates over the limits of modernity. Discussion ranges widely across the social, economic, political and cultural institutions and practices with which the idea of postmodernity has been articulated. Consideration is given to the cultural configuration of postmodernism and the related notion of poststructuralism. The focus of analysis is on postmodernity, and the possible emergence of new social, political and cultural configurations signifying a breach from modernity; a new condition or mood; or a distinctly critical way of facing up to modern forms of life. Special attention is devoted to the analysis of new times’ and processes of globalization with which a condition of postmodernity has been associated. Another major theme of the text is the implication of postmodern conditions for knowledge, sociology, politics and social life.