The ‘Postmodern Turn’ in the Social Sciences

✍ Scribed by Simon Susen

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK
• Year: 2015
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 517
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Simon Susen examines the impact of the 'postmodern turn' on the contemporary social sciences. On the basis of an innovative five-dimensional approach, this study provides a systematic, comprehensive, and critical account of the legacy of the 'postmodern turn', notably in terms of its continuing relevance in the twenty-first century.

"The 'Postmodern Turn' in the Social Sciences presents an authoritative treatment of a significant phenomenon. Simon Susen's book is a real tour de force: it is remarkably comprehensive, analytically rigorous, and it develops a thorough critique of postmodern thought." - Patrick Baert, University of Cambridge, UK

"Simon Susen has done a first-class job in bringing some order into postmodern thought, which is notorious for its programmatic disorderliness. He has succeeded in doing so on the basis of research that is of unprecedented width and depth. The resulting compendium of thoughts and thinkers may well serve as a crucial point of reference for people contributing to or affected by the 'postmodern turn' that is, the rest of us." - Zygmunt Bauman, University of Leeds, UK

"More commonly associated with the humanities, postmodernism has also had major impacts in the social sciences. Rather than choosing one narrow interpretation, Simon Susen takes a broad and inclusive look at a whole series of important debates and shifts of direction. The result is a timely account not just of past controversies but also of changing presuppositions shaping future scholarship." - Craig Calhoun, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

"Simon Susen's magisterial critical organization of diverse insights, ambiguities, and problems in the fields of both modern and postmodern thought is a great gift. He provides a solid conceptual platform from which to launch tomorrow's progressive (yes!) social theories, policies, and practices." - Sandra Harding, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

"Simon Susen has written an original and comprehensive review and critique of the 'postmodern turn' in the social sciences an investigative project that is particularly important in relation to current intellectual developments in the United States. This work's depth and systematicity promise to play a major role in reversing the unfortunate decline in interest in, and attention to, postmodern thinking since the late 1990s. Early-21st-century social science, especially sociology, needs the insights and correctives of postmodern thinking more than ever. A careful reading of this book will make that clear and hopefully spawn a much-needed revival of interest in this important body of work." George Ritzer, University of Maryland, USA

"Postmodernism may no longer be the provocation it was two decades ago, but it remains a profound challenge to the enlightenment dreams of 'reason' and 'progress'. Simon Susen's The 'Postmodern Turn' in the Social Sciences provides a smart and reader-friendly account of this transformational shift in contemporary critical thought." - Steven Seidman, State University of New York, USA

"The 'Postmodern Turn' in the Social Sciences offers a lucid account of relevant debates and developments in epistemology, social research methodology, sociology, historiography, and politics and provides an insightful discussion of the work of thinkers who have been closely associated with postmodernism." - Barry Smart, University of Portsmouth, UK

"Simon Susen's detailed, systematic, and precise description of the 'postmodern turn' in all its dimensions from identity politics to cultural studies provides a diagnosis of where we stand today in the social sciences. We all need this book in order to engage in a serious assessment of our theoretical (and practical) predicament. There is no excuse everyone has to read it!" - Slavoj Žižek, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; The Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, UK; New York University, USA

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xi
Introduction....Pages 1-39
From Modern to Postmodern Epistemology? The ‘Relativist Turn’....Pages 40-63
From Modern to Postmodern Methodology? The ‘Interpretive Turn’....Pages 64-82
From Modern to Postmodern Sociology? The ‘Cultural Turn’....Pages 83-135
From Modern to Postmodern Historiography? The ‘Contingent Turn’....Pages 136-170
From Modern to Postmodern Politics? The ‘Autonomous Turn’....Pages 171-229
Critical Reflections on Postmodern Thought: Limitations of the ‘Postmodern Turn’....Pages 230-257
Conclusion....Pages 258-281
Back Matter....Pages 282-510

✦ Subjects

Science, general