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"EMBARRASSING COLLOCUTOR": POSTMODERN SOCIETY THEORIES
Vjeran Katunarić
; Filozofski fakultet, Zagreb
Sažetak
Postmodern theories in sociology have thrown out a (Marxist) concept of social classes and a (functionalist) notion of social systems-structure, and in exchange they took over notions of actors, collectivity and culture from certain nonsociological or presociological theories. Postmodernism in sociology has been developing in two directions. In the direction of cultural relativism that a principal of difference holds from the standpoint of pragmatism, deconstructionism and nonhistorism, which the author describes as "Babylonian situation without Descartes". The second direction bears a theory of rational choice that, opposite to the first one, aspires to the development of unitary theory, introducing elements of presociological (utilitarianism) and nonsociological views (neoclassical economic model of social actors). The author critically analyzes their contributions concerning sustainability of "scientific programme of sociology" (Boudon; Mouzelis). He especially discusses about deficiencies and advantages of a theory of rational choice in the interpretation of James Coleman, whose notion of "corporate actor" is more normative and legislative than sociological. The author brings a conclusion that both theoretical orientations do not describe any "post-society", as it has been announced by Daniel Bell, but transfer into sociology language alliterations typical of a discourse of interculturalism and neoliberalism. In sociology a postmodern attempt is more "an embarrassing" linguistic play (Canetti), than a (new) theory of a (new) society structure.
Ključne riječi
sociology of postmodern theory; sociology - a scientific programme; theory of rational choice; relativism
Hrčak ID:
141350
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.1.1995.
Posjeta: 1.957 *