Postmodernism & history Essay

Postmodernism refers to a shift in the non art components of history, particularly after the 1960s. It is marked by developments in culture, society and the economy. One drawback to postmodernism is the idea that it is concrete. Instead, postmodern society continues to go through enormous change that can be contributed to ever changing aspects of culture, society and the economy. Modernism preceded postmodernism which suggests that postmodernism is a reaction to modernism or postmodernism evolved from modernism and continues to undergo changes today (Taylor &Winquist, 2001). Further, as postmodernism has gone through these many changes; it has become an extremely broad term for other philosophical disciplines that have been created. Another drawback to postmodernism comes from Michael Foucault who believed that postmodernism has caused science to become more political in nature (Schillo & Thompson, 2003). The drawback to science is that certain people who oppose scientific research associated with controversial issues such as cloning and genetically modified organisms are only against scientific progress because it serves some political agenda (Schillo & Thompson, 2003). This is a drawback to postmodernism because politics get in the way of important scientific research that has potential to greatly improve the lives of humans. Finally, postmodernism includes a complex style of writing that makes drawing useful conclusions challenging (Constas, 1998). This complexity often causes difficulty internalizing postmodern theories and ideas because they are hard to understand. It also causes a challenge to those who conduct educational research in order to educate others about postmodernism (Constas, 1998). Therefore, it can be determined that postmodernism causes a lack of communication among the educational community (Constas, 1998). These leads to another drawback which is the additional training educators must receive simply to understand postmodernism and its complex theories. Constas, Mark A. (1998). Research news and comment: the changing nature of educational research and a critique of postmodernism. Educational Researcher, 27 (2): 26 – 33. Schillo, K. K. & Thompson, P. B. (2003). Postmodernism for animal scientists. Journal of Animal Science, 81 (12): 2989 – 2998. Taylor, V. E. & Winquist, C. E. (2001). Encyclopedia of Postmodernism. London and New York: Routledge.