Political Theory and Postmodernism

Postmodernism has evoked great controversy and it continues to do so today as it disseminates into general discourse. Some see its principles such as its fundamental resistance to metanarratives as frighteningly disruptive while a growing number are reaping the benefits of its innovative perspective. In Political Theory and Postmodernism Stephen K. White outlines a path through the postmodern problematic by distinguishing two distinct ways of thinking about the meaning of responsibility one prevalent in modern and the other in postmodern perspectives. Using this as a guide White explores the work of Heidegger Foucault Derrida Lyotard and Habermas as well as 'difference' feminists with the goal of showing how postmodernism can inform contemporary ethical-political reflection. In his concluding chapter White examines how this revisioned postmodern perspective might bear on our thinking about justice. Language: English