Critical reflections on postmodern thought

limitations of the "postmodern turn"

pp. 230-257

in: Simon Susen, The "postmodern turn" in the social sciences, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015

Abstract

The systematic analysis of the impact of the "postmodern turn" on the social sciences is a contradictory endeavour. Supporters of postmodern thought are suspicious of the imposition of "logocentric"¹ principles — such as 'structure", "coherence", and "conclusiveness". From their perspective, the attempt to give a comprehensive and thematically organized account of postmodern thought, permitting to draw rationally guided and conceptually sophisticated conclusions from such a methodical undertaking, constitutes — at best — an amusing investigative irony or — at worst — a misguided explorative venture whose motivational starting point is little more than a contradiction in terms.