Synopses & Reviews
Postmodern philosophy is shown to be a valuable tool for exposing the bankruptcy of laissez-faire economics and culture and in developing a democratic policy. Despite the claims made by conservatives, Choi, Callaghan, and Murphy argue that an unencumbered market does not encourage pluralism. Sources of power are left intact that work in various ways to truncate democracy. Postmodernism offers an alternative to the conservative ideology and provides a new approach to promoting social equity.
Synopsis
An attempt to use Postmodernism to confront issues of current socio-political concern.
About the Author
JUNG MIN CHOI is Assistant Professor of Sociology, Barry University.KAREN A. CALLAGHAN, Associate Professor of Sociology, Barry University, is the author of Ideals of Feminine Beauty (Greenwood Press, 1994).JOHN W. MURPHY is Professor of Sociology, University of Miami. Choi and Murphy have worked together on earlier projects, including The Politics and Philosophy of Political Correctness (Praeger, 1992).
Table of Contents
Introduction
Contemporary Society and Morality
Laissez-faire and the Moral Dimension
Morals are Back Again
The Fallout from Laissez-faire
A Case of Pluralism Denied
Some Thoughts on Violence, Again
Poverty and Culture
Conservatives, Civil Unrest, and Class
Poverty and Sociologism
What Is Structural about the Economy?
The Culture of Poverty Thesis Revisited
Modernity, the Economy, and the Democratization of Economic Life
Democracy and Culture
Social Control, Ideology, and Pluralism
A Recent Example of Cinema Verite and the Ideology of Crime
Private vs. the Public: A Dubious Distinction?
Law Enforcement, Institutionalized Violence, and Community Control of Policing
Social Imagery and Democratization
Symbolic Violence and the Disembodiment of Identity
The Significance of Postmodernism for Race Relations
Why Assimilationists Are Afraid of Postmodernists
Suggested Readings
Index