What Is Postmodernism in Sociology?

Postmodernism in sociology focuses on individual truths and stays away from information that is confined to cultures, races, traditions or groups, yet understands that individual experiences will always be relative and cannot yield universal truths. Postmodernism is a type of thought that does not believe in finite, unchanging, specific and certain principles for all and does not believe that there is a theory that can explain everything for every human being, such as a religious or philosophical truth.

Postmodernism can be used within many fields in addition to sociology, such as architecture, philosophy, literature and art. It is difficult to define postmodernism and to create boundaries for its studies, because it is a fairly elusive principle. Some of the beliefs that have come from postmodernism include feminism and socialism.

An example of postmodernism in sociology would be Scientology. In Scientology, people have taken advanced technology and mixed new scientific concepts with ancient ideas. Examples of postmodernism in art can be seen with paintings and, in particular, statues that leave behind all concept of structure.

The main problems with postmodernism is that it can be seen as unrealistic, idealistic and overly sentimental and romantic. Others feel that postmodernism is actually dangerous because it will create a place where there cannot be any growth or progress.