Is postmodernism a politically engaged trend. Explain?
Yes there is. A comment from Steven Best and Douglas Kellner
states that “As with postmodern theory, there I no one ‘postmodern politics,’
but rather a conflicting set of propositions that emerges from the ambiguities
of social change and multiple postmodern theoretical perspectives.” Postemodern
politics takes a variety of forms. On one end of the spectru is the “anti-poltics’
of Baudrilard, a: cynical, despairing rejection of the belief that politics can
be used to change society. On the other side of Baudrillard’s negative, nihilistic
approach is a more affirmative one, outlined by Faucault, Lyotard , and Roty,
who suggest that the way to “enhance individual freedom” and bring about “progressive
change” is to concentrate on the local level.
Although
there is a lack of consensus surrounding much of Postmodern politics, most
agree Postmodernists fall on the left side of the political spectrum. Barbara
Epstien , writes, “Many people, inside and outside the world of Postmodernism
have come to equate Postmodernism with the left.
Most
early French Postmodernists emerged from the Marxist tradition. For
Postmodernists, the politics is not centered around political parties, utopian
visions, or an Ultimate telos; rather, it is a tool of experimentation that
involves a radical critique of the existing systems of power in a society, the
identification of oppressed groups, and remedy for bringing those identified
groups out of oppression to achieve a sense of social justice
Group: Alejandro Perez, Evan Gallagher, Natalie Helver, Ashley Pierre-Maintus
