Transcript Lecture two. - University of Bath

Lecture three.
The Enlightenment,
Modernity and
Postmodernity.
Postmodernism
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Concepts of rationality, knowledge,
normalisation and power at heart of
Postmodernism.
Postmodernism is a critique of the
Enlightenment and the Modernist
project.
What do we mean by
Postmodern?
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A slippery concept.
The term Postmodern has different connotations
depending on context.
An historical period, a new social milieu and societal
order, a philosophical perspective, an artistic and
intellectual movement and a cultural shift.
Postmodernity, postmodern. and postmodernism
linked to a cultural trend which began in the arts.
Encompassed many areas of cultural life- art,
architecture, cinema, literature and music.
Postmodernity
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A new phase, or stage in society- this is hotly
contested.
It is argued that society has moved out of one
historical phase and into another.
Out of the ‘modern’ era and into a new phase of
development.
In this view the cultural, economic and political
phenomena referred to as postmodern are simply
expressions and manifestations of this historical
transition or shift.
In the area of social and political theory
postmodernism refers to a loose grouping of
developments.
These can be summarised as
followed:
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A particular type of relativism in which universal truths are
suspect and local know ledges are privileged.
A deep suspicion of any form of politics or social engineering
which roots itself in forms of knowledge which claim
universality.
A suspicion of any kind of historical narrative that attributes
any internal logic or telos to social change, including suspicion
of the most basic notions of social development.
An emphasis on the fragmented and decentred nature of the
subject.
An emphasis on the importance of cultivating and defending
cultural diversity, incommensurability and fragmentation.
An emphasis on the intimate connection between power and
human discourse.
Where did this term come
from?
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Origins difficult to pin down to a particular
moment.
Many agree that it began life as a movement
in architectural theory and practice.
A reaction against conformity and rigid in
modernist architecture.
Charles Jencks ‘We need an appreciation of
human diversity in architectural planning.
Po-mo and Architecture
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A new architectural aesthetic that acknowledges the pluralistic needs of man.
Modernist architecture obsessed with planning environments to suit carefully defined
functions.
Based on top down, rationalist, expert systems and a scientific orientation to the world.
Modernist architecture built on principles of enlightenment social engineering.
Modernist architecture impossible for humans to live in comfortably.
Planning neglects the complexity of human beings and human communities.
The ‘big theories’ about how human beings actually lived and worked didn’t match up to the
reality.
Jencks observed the characteristics of lived environments that had grown from the bottom
upward.
‘Learning from Las Vegas’.
Attempts to design lived spaces on the basis of overarching theories of human nature, or
human society should be abandoned.
No single theory can possibly do justice to human complexity.
The imposition of planning on the basis of such theories leads to new forms of oppression
and control.
Architecture should learn from human diversity - it should reflect that diversity and where
possible enable and amplify it.
What is Postmodern
architecture?
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An architecture of pastiche - of mixing and hybridising of styles
and innovations.
Less concerned with particular functions, or any grand theory of
society.
A new postmodern aesthetic.
Emphasising complexity, diversity and incomensurablility.
Concerned with provoking sensations.
Mixes diverse styles e.g. the aesthetic beauty of Greek columns
and ballustrades, mixed with open plan living inspired by 1970’s
interior design. The gothic might sit with Victoriana or Tudor
style frontage with the design plan of a modern Breton Villa.
Often uses light, modern sustainable materials.
All style and no substance?
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This is what some of Postmodernism’s critics suggest.
No! Say postmodernists- modernist architects
universalised man and his needs, they fail to
appreciate diversity and pluralism- thus they created
oppressive and unsuitable environments that
excluded difference and failed to account for minority
needs.
Foucault’s discussion of the normalisation and
control of certain behaviours ties up with the
homogenisation of man and his needs, this is central
to modernity and the modernist project, the idea that
there exists a universalisable version of humanity.
Postmodernism and the
Arts.
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Before postmodernism high art clearly separated from popular
culture.
The final stages of modern art - abstract expressionismconcerned with issues and experiences, entirely alien to
ordinary people.
Sixties and seventies, art draws on popular culture for its raw
materials.
The divisions between popular culture and high culture begin to
disintegrate.
Elitism of the artistic world rent asunder.
Dominic Strinati ‘everything was up for grabs’.
Pastiche, collage and mixing of styles shapes art and artistic
forms.
This disintegration of
boundaries.
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A classic theme in postmodernism debates.
For the purpose of creating sensation.
The post-modern aesthetic less to do with trying to
say anything universal or profound in any way about
the human condition.
Sensation. E.g. Philip Rothko’s coloured squares,
Damien Hirst’s cow, Tracey Emin’s tent.
The medium is the message.
A rejection of the homogenising tendencies of
modernism
Modernity and Modernism
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Modernism, modernity or the modern
era - a particular cultural, political and
intellectual mileu.
The Enlightenment.
Postmodernism a reaction against and a
rejection of enlightenment ideals and
principles.
The Enlightenment.
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A European philospohical and social movement of the
late 17th and 18th centuries.
‘The Age of Reason’.
A largely secular movement that challenged religious
explanations of human social life.
Committed to progressive idea of feedom of thought
and expression, the criticism of religion, the value of
reason as opposed to tradition, the value of rational
scientific enquiry, a commitment to social progress
and emancipation and the significance of
individualism.
O'Donnell ("Introduction To
Sociology", 4th Edition 1997) defines
modernity.
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"...a period during which science and reason become
the main means by which human beings seek to
understand the world and solve problems. The
modern age of enquiry and exploration began around
the time of the Reformation [that is, the 16th
century] but gathered fresh impetus with the
industrial and political revolutions of the late 18th /
early 19th century...modernity is driven by a belief in
the power of human reason to understand and
change, in short, to master the world".
Sociology and the
Enlightenment
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Origins of Sociology as a discipline, rooted in
the modern period.
Sociology (from Comte onwards) concerned
with the description, theorising and
explanation of modernity and all its
associated processes.
The concept of sociological understanding a
profoundly modernist project.
The Enlightenment and
Science.
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O'Donnell:
‘Sociology...is driven by a belief in the power of human reason to
understand and change,in short, to master the world’.
Challenges organised religion.
Scientificism provides answers to ‘questions of existence’
Science, provides plausible answers.
Scientific knowledge was based on reason.
Science demands ‘evidence’ and ‘proof’.
Challenges the "monopoly of knowledge" claimed by organised religion.
Undermines the power of custom and tradition.
Science and progress go hand in hand.
Reveals cause effect relationships in the social world.
Reveals laws that govern societies.
Makes social engineering possible.
Change, progess and emancipation. (Link to Foucault).
Essentialism
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Involves the ideathat there are essences or features of the
natural or social world.
A philosophy / ideology that argues we can reduce complex
forms of behaviour to their essential, relatively simple, causes.
Sometimes called "Reductionism".
Many sociologists reject the concept of essentialism applied to
explanations for human behaviour.
Postmodernist writers reject the possibility of there being any
valid form of essentialist theory.
This has important ramifications for the way in which we can
construct knowledge about both the natural and social worlds.
Anti-Essentialism
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Essentialist thinking of Enlightenment thought radically opposed
by Postmodernists.
They suggest that human beings and human societies are
complex, fluid and dynamic and can not be reduced to simple
essences.
There is no ‘essential’ deviant or madman or sexual miscreant
all of this categories are labels created by particular forms of
discourse within particular value systems, and frameworks of
knowledge that are bound up with complex relations of power.
Complexity is central to Postmodern thought.
Concept of ‘truth’ in complete dissarray.
Postmodernism about uncertainty
Epistemological relativism.
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There is no such thing as objective
knowledge.
Everything is viewed through the lens of our
values and our culture.
Question- How can we make judgements
about the world around us if all knowledge
and truths are relative.
This is a central critique of the
epistemological relativism generated in much
of Postmodern thought.
Postmodernism can be summed
up as being defined by the
following features.
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A particular type of relativism in which universal truths are
suspect and local knowledges are privileged.
A deep suspicion of any form of politics or social engineering
which roots itself in forms of knowledge which claim
universality.
A suspicion of any kind of historical narrative that attributes
any internal logic or telos to social change, including suspicion
of the most basic notions of social development.
An emphasis on the fragmented and decentred nature of the
subject.
An emphasis on the importance of cultivating and defending
cultural diversity, incommensurability and fragmentation.
An emphasis on the intimate connection between power and
human discourse.