Postmodernism, when done well, is about undermining illegitimate epistemology. Using the extreme of a technique as the centre is like saying all evolution proponents are Eugenics supporters (one of the many illegitimate scientific ideologies Postmodern critique helped undermine)
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The method (although diverse and I can't do it justice here) is most often associated with uncovering the ways in which language is used to hide ideology. Often applied to concepts like 'progress', which too often in modernity, actually meant domination by a particular ideology.
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Yes, I know the theory. How does it show this? ( Full disclosure: I'm actually writing a book about this at the moment so I do know the ideas) How does it work? How does it show we have not progressed but simply been dominated by an ideology? What are the measures?
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eg, how do they argue that the eradication of many diseases, vastly improved life expectancy, reduced infant mortality, vastly increased rights for women & ethnic & sexual minorities is the dominance of an ideology rather than legitimate progress. What would progress look like?
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These first 3 aren't the things that get critiqued. The critique would sit at the junction where these improvements are not spread evenly due to structural prejudices. That form of critique is actually partly responsible for the second lot of progress examples.
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They are things which are posited as 'progress' tho and undermining science probably won't help that. Also, no, The Civil Rights Movement, Gay Pride & 2nd Wave Liberal Feminism happened before postmodernism & were driven by universal liberalism which PoMo rejects.
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I actually have to go and work but you're making a lot of the same defences of PoMo as a piece I recently edited for Areo. I also responded to it in Areo:https://areomagazine.com/2018/04/28/skepticism-is-necessary-in-our-post-truth-age-postmodernism-is-not/ …
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No worries. Thanks for directing me to the article, I'll take a read and get back to you. I'm not adverse to thoughtful discussion on the topic. My issue lies with the current characterisations of Po Mo which are resulting in hyperbole and misunderstandings about the ideas.
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Thanks. Yes, mine too. I will soon writing something to address the 'postmodernism is neo-Marxism' nonsense. There are valid & invalid, informed & uninformed criticisms of postmodernism as a set of skeptical approaches to grand narratives. I ultimately think there are better ones
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The word 'science' is a good example. By calling Eugenics a science, eugenicists were able to get their policies adopted in many countries (e.g. Australia and the US), when it was prejudiced ideology dressed up as science. Psychology did similar things to women and homosexuals.
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Yes, but how does postmodernism show us this? Surely it was recognised that eugenics were often used to enforce illiberal and fascistic ideologies before postmodernism gained prominence? Liberal humanism had some objections to it. How does PoMo address it better?
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I for one don't think of postmodernism as a method. I think that muddies things. Rather, it is best seen as a style of theorizing that focuses on the context and identity of the knower and how that might influence their view or interpretation of the known.
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Again, it does not seem necessary to take it to extreme forms of relativism, nor marry it with Marxism. Data, once produced, will inevitably merge w/ the social. That is, 3rd person objectivity is inextricably meshed w/ 1st person subjectivity and 2nd person intersubjectivity.
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This is especially true as the data produced becomes more complex, especially as it approaches life and mind.
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So at least for that, we can't treat social phenomena like we treat physics or chemistry. And so a power analysis, an analysis of identity, and thinking about language has something to contribute to our understanding of social science, psychology, history, and politics.
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There’s PoMo as literary/cultural product v activism. The first sense is a meaning-interpretation process where cultural productions are both input and output. As activism, ideology, or policy production it’s bankrupt. Downsizing to the first sense is proper.
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