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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 14 page paper looks at a variety of theories. Foucault's ideas are noted as well as concepts such as labeling theory, feminism and Marxism. Bibliography lists 15 sources.
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14 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RT13_SA318soc.rtf
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when talking about contemporary society. Postmodernism distrusts large-scale theories and totalising theories have been constructed to explain the social world ("The Critical," 2003). Real worlds or legal systems are
not out there perfectly formed or otherwise, and waiting to be brought to light by theory (2003). Postmodernism prefers provisional, small scale narratives that pay attention to a variety of
forms of speaking and writing (2003). It listens for repressed and oppressed dialectics that are excluded but actually always within complex textual organizations (2003). It deliberately sets out
to shake up closed, comfortable, established systems of meaning and Marxism, for example, despite its utterly essential moral indignation and unswerving opposition to political domination and oppression, and is a
discourse that aspires to a "total possession of an all-embracing, definitive truth" (2003, p.PG). It reaches towards an understanding as complete and thus perhaps as dangerous as any religion (2003).
This is ironic because Marx detested religion. Yet, what is important to understand is that the all encompassing theories of macro-sociology are not relevant in contemporary society all of the
time. That there are exceptions suggests that one cannot take all of the theoretical concepts to heart. Finally, Nichols (1999) contends that the world is undergoing a
period of economic globalization and political fragmentation. If one accepts that as truth, one can then see that the abandonment of totalising theories is prudent when contemplating contemporary society.
Still, new theories that are applicable to the postmodern world are not necessarily new. For example, today one may take a feminist perspective but feminism has been around since the
nineteenth century. Still, it is something that is applicable to the investigation at hand. II. The Socially Constructed Phenomenon One relevant perspective is the idea that much
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