Modernity and Postmodernity: Knowledge, Power and the Self Book

This accessible and comprehensive overview of the main issues on the modernity-postmodernity controversy is the first clear-sighted book on the subject. It surveys modern social theory, from Kant to Weber with economy and masterly precision. And evaluates the work of the Frankfurt School, Arendy, Strauss, Luhmann, Habermas, Heller, Castoriadis and Touraine, before moving on to consider the approaches of the leading writers on postmodenrity: Lyotard, Vattimo, Derrida, Foucault and Jameson.Gerard Delanty maintains that we cannot be postmodern, for we have never been modern. He argues that the Enlightenment was not a break in human history. Rather, it continued central traits in classical thought, notably those relating to issues of scepticism, discursivity and reflexivity. The result is a new way of conceptualizing the modernity-postmodernity debate, and an exciting new approach to the roots of contemporary social theory.The book situates the reader in a keynote debate of today, and provides guidance for critically assessing the issues and the consequences. It will be required reading for students in sociology and social theory.Read More