Postmodernism and a Sociology of the Absurd and Other Essays on the "Nouvelle Vague" in American Social Science (Studies in American Sociology, V. 5) by Stanford M. Lyman
Postmodernism, poststructuralism, and deconstructionism are interrelated aspects of the newest theoretical development in sociology and the social sciences. This new wave of thought challenges virtually all paradigms currently in use. In this, his fifth volume in the Studies in American Sociology Series, Stanford M. Lyman offers commentaries on and critiques of this new perspective, posing questions concerning theoretical and epistemological problems arising from what appears to be a nouvelle vague. Among the basic themes and issues explored are the allegation that modernity has defaulted on the promise of the Enlightenment; the question of whether the rational basis for knowledge and action is still valid; the controversy over the place of metanarratives and macrosociological outlooks; and newer concerns over race, gender, sexual preferences, the self, and the "Other."

Undoing Culture: Globalization, Postmodernism and Identity (Theory, Culture and Society Series)
by Mike Featherstone
"This is a worthwhile discussion of postmodernity and modernity that overlaps theoretically with Chris Rojek's Decentring Leisure. Excellent Bibliography and Index." --Choice What is the relationship between culture and postmodernism? How has globalization influenced our understanding of culture? This shrewd book, written by one of the most accomplished and authoritative writers in the field, is a major contribution to rethinking culture. Mike Featherstone examines how culture is produced, reproduced, challenged, and transformed under current social conditions. Undoing Culture provides a guide to the dramatic changes that everyday life is currently witnessing and also suggests ways of analyzing these changes in theoretically meaningful ways. It explores the meaning of ordered life, the heroic life, revolutionary myth, symbolic power, and forms of consumer culture. What emerges is a highly original and significant attempt to ground culture in the context of globalization and postmodernism. Written with the customary clarity and judicious style that readers have come to expect from this author, Undoing Culture will be essential reading for students in the sociology of culture and cultural studies.

Postmodernism and Social Inquiry
by David R. Dickens (Editor), Andrea Fontana (Editor)
Integrating philosophy and the humanities with sociological theory and research methods, ten essays address the relevance of postmodernism to the social sciences and explore the application of postmodern thinking to the study of society. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
"...a first-rate introduction for social scientists interested in the complexities and controversies connected with postmodern thought. The authors all write with care, the various and central philosophical, humanistic, and sociological perspectives associated with postmodernism." --CHOICE
"The volume is well referenced and indexed, and is particularly suited for use as a text in upper-division and graduate level courses." --CHOICE
"A constructive attempt to bridge the often wide divide between ever multiplying postmodern frameworks and sociological theory and methods. Sociologists should welcome this book. The authors have succeeded in demonstrating both the value and limits of various postmodern theories for sociological inquiry....I was impressed with the authors' clarity of presentation as well as the critical stance they took with regard to assessing the value of each postmodern approach for sociology....This book is a worthwhile resource for sociologists interested in gaining familiarity with the multiple faces of postmodern theories....It should prompt the reader to take postmodern critiques seriously as challenges to the thinking and doing of sociology as well as a new focus of study. This book could also serve as a very accessible text for upper division undergraduates and graduate students alike. I highly recommend it." --Clinical Sociology Review

The Sociology of Postmodernism (International Library of Sociology Series) by Scott Lash
This authoritative and revealing book provides the first sociological examination of postmodernism. Written by a noted scholar in the field, it considers the diffferences between modernism and postmodernism, describes the social and historical context which gave rise to both, and provides the clearest explanation of why postmodernism is important.

Against Postmodernism : A Marxist Critique by Alex Callinicos
It has become an intellectual commonplace to claim that we have entered the era of 'postmodernity'. Three themes are embraced in this claim; the poststructurist critique by Foucault, Derrida and others of the philosophical heritage of the Enlightenment; the supposed impasse of High Modern art and its replacement by new artistic forms; and the alleged emergence of 'post-industrial' societies whose structures are beyond the ken of Marx and other theorists of industrial capitalism.
Against Postmodernism takes issue with all these themes. It challenges the idealist irrationalism of post-structuralism. It questions the existence of any radical break separating allegedly Postmodern from Modern art. And it denies that recent socio-economic developments represent any fundamental shift from classical patterns of capital accumulation.
Drawing on philosophy and history, Against Postmodernism takes issue also with some of the most forthright critics of postmodernism -- Jurgen Habermas and Fredric Jameson, for example. But it is most distinctive in that it offers a historical reading of the theories of such currently fashionable thinkers as Baudrillard and Lyotard.
Postmodernism, Alex Callinios argues, reflects the disappointed revolutionary generation of '68, and the incorporation of many of its members into the porfessional and managerial 'new middle class'. It is best read as a symptom of political frustration and social mobility rather than as a significant intellectual or cultural phenomenon in its own right.

The Postmodern Presence: Readings on Postmodernism in American Culture and Society by Arthur Asa Berger
Postmodern is a popular term, but difficult to define. Is it a movement? Discipline? Lifestyle? Or all these things? What are the limits of its jurisdiction? Instead of summing up the various perspectives of scholars and the variety of ideas to which the term postmodernism has been assigned, Berger lets this diversity speak for itself. By bringing together in a reader format articles and essays on the impact of the postmodern temper on an eclectic range of subjects from MTV and "The X-Files" to museums and university culture, Berger presents a few of the many ways different theorists have come to terms with postmodernism, while examining manifestations of postmodernism in the culture of everyday life. Highly entertaining and thought-provoking, the collection is sure to engage students and encourage a real involvement with the issues of postmodernism. And, when paired with its "postmodern murder mystery" companion, "Postmortem for a Postmodernist" (also published by AltaMira Press), the pair make an amusing and engaging exploration into the world of the postmodern presence.

Postmodernism and Popular Culture by Angela McRobbie
Cultural studies began as a radical political project, establishing the cultural centrality of everday life and popular culture. In a postmodern world where old uncertainties are undermined and identities fragmented, the way forward for those working with popular culture has become less clear. In contrast to more pessimistic readings of the possibilities of postmodernity, Postmodernism and Popular Culture engages with postmodernity as a space for social change and political transformation.
Ranging widely over cultural theory and popular culture, Angela McRobbie looks at everyday life as an eclectic and invigorating arena for the interplay of different cultures and identites. McRobbie assesses the contribution of key figures in cultural and postcolonial theory -- Susan Sontag, Walter Benjamin, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak -- and surveys the landscape of today's youth and popular culture, from salvation army fashion to the rave scene, from moral panic to teen magazines.
Angela McRobbie is Principal Lecturer in Sociology at Thames Valley University, London

Postmodernism and Management: Pros, Cons and the Alternative (Research in the Sociology of Organizations) (September 12, 2003)
by Edwin A Locke
Postmodern philosophy has had a profound effect on intellectuals throughout the world. Its influence has seeped into many fields other than philosophy including literature, psychology, sociology, political science, history, journalism and management. However, there is a debate within the intellectual community as to whether this influence has been beneficial or harmful with no resolution yet in sight. This book contributes to the debate within the field of management. The book includes four chapters by the most highly regarded pro postmodern scholars and an equal number of chapters by the most highly regarded anti postmodern scholars. Adding to the controversy is a final chapter which argues that Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism is the proper alternative to postmodernism. Ayn Rand is a world famous novelist and philosopher whose ideas have become increasingly popular and influential within academia and within culture at large.

Consumer Culture and Postmodernism (Theory, Culture and Society Series) by Mike Featherstone
If a society is postmodern, it must prioritize the consumption of resources in everyday life. In this view, mass media advertising and market dynamics lead us to a constant search for new fashions, new styles, new sensations, and new experiences. In this volume, Featherstone examines the idea of a postmodern society. He explores the roots of consumer culture, how it is defined and differentiated and the extent to which it represents the arrival of a "postmodern" world. He examines the theories of consumption and postmodernism among contemporary social theorists and relates these to the actual nature of contemporary consumer culture. Consumer Culture and Postmodernism will interest academics and professionals in the areas of sociology, social theory, cultural studies, economics and anthropology. "Several of Mike Featherstone's chapters address topics that are immediately recognizable to marketing researchers. . . . In exploring these issues the author reveals a strong grounding in sociological theory and research, leading to some penetrating interpretive insights about contemporary consumer life. Uncovering the sociocultural significance of these particular consumption developments is Featherstone's chief concern. . . . He does an admirable job." --Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science "Featherstone neatly integrates recent ideas, models and writings concerning consumer capitalism, postindustrialism and postmodernity. . . . The author has taken great pains to develop (his) ideas clearly and to make the esoteric accessible to the literate." --Cooperative Economics News Service ". . . [Featherstone's book] can be recommended. . . . A worthwhile effort to open up a relatively undeveloped field." --Peter R. Grahame, Bentley College in Massachusetts ". . . precisely the sort of text which is necessary to read to escape from our productivist preconceptions. . . . The text must be recommended wholeheartedly to all those in industrial relations who wish to have their noninstitutional lives illuminated for them." --British Journal of Industrial Relations "Of great value to social scientists seeking a guide to the growing literature on the intersection of these two processes, which can no longer be considered peripheral concerns of contemporary sociology." --Humanity and Society

Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction by Christopher Butler
Postmodernism has become the buzzword of contemporary society over the last decade. But how can it be defined? In this highly readable introduction the mysteries of this most elusive of concepts are unraveled, casting a critical light upon the way we live now, from the politicizing of museum culture to the cult of the politically correct. The key postmodernist ideas are explored and challenged, as they figure in the theory, philosophy, politics, ethics and artwork of the period, and it is shown how they have interacted within a postmodernist culture.

Social Postmodernism : Beyond Identity Politics (Cambridge Cultural Social Studies) by Linda Nicholson, Steven Seidman (Series Editor), Jeffrey C. Alexander (Series Editor)
Social Postmodernism offers a transformative political vision and addresses the live questions in identity politics. The postmodern focus on race, sexuality and gender is sharpened by integrating the micro-social concerns of the social movements associated with these issues and macro-institutional and cultural analysis. Social Postmodernism brings together leading theorists to explore further the implications for the discourses of feminism, post-Marxian cultural studies, African-American, Gay, Latino/a and postcolonial studies. - Cambridge University Press.
"Social Postmodernism is a great book in the most traditional or modern snese-it is useful. This has a great deal to do with the fact that the rich diversity of papers included, covering sexuality, race, multiculturalism, the India Diaspora, feminism, and what's left of universalism, is held up by a thematic concern with the idea of identity." Peter Beilharz, Contemporary Sociology "This collection of previously published essays contributes to contemporary social and political theory in a number of important ways." Ethics

Leaky Bodies and Boundaries: Feminism, Postmodernism and (Bio)Ethics by Margrit Shildrick
Drawing on postmodernist analyses, Leaky Bodies and Boundaries presents a feminist investigation into the marginalization of women within western discourse that denies both female moral agency and bodylines. With reference to contemporary and historical issues in biomedicine, the book argues that the boundaries of both the subject and the body are no longer secure. The aim is both to valorize women and to suggest that "leakiness" may be the very ground for a postmodern feminist ethic.
The contribution made by Margrit Shildrick is to go beyond modernist feminisms to radically displace the mechanisms by which women are devalued. The anxiety that postmodernism cannot yield an ethics, nor advance feminist concerns is addressed.
Margrit Shildrick is Lecturer in Women's Studies at the University of Leeds.

Negotiating Postmodernism
by Wayne Gabardi
A comprehensive and interdisciplinary overview of this essential debate.
No longer is there one postmodernism. Joining the modern-postmodern debate as it arrives at a critical juncture, this book suggests that the polarizing polemics of the radical postmodernists who once dominated the discussion have given way to a new "critical postmodernism" characterized by dialogue, accommodation, and synthesis. A comprehensive survey, Negotiating Postmodernism also marks the arrival of a powerful, critical presence on the scene, one that advances the idea of a late modern-postmodern social and cultural transition.
Wayne Gabardi considers the relevant literatures that make up the second wave of the modern-postmodern debate, engaging the work of contemporary social and political thinkers ranging from Lyotard and Bauman to Giddens and Habermas, from Heidegger and Arendt to Foucault and Wolin. From the battle lines drawn between neo-Marxist writers and postmoderns in the early sixties to the shifting positions staked out in the eighties and nineties, Gabardi identifies the salient features of the evolving discussion and searches out common ground for the contending parties. More than a comprehensive overview and interpretation, his work also puts forward major theoretical propositions regarding the future of democracy for advanced societies.
Wayne Gabardi is associate professor of political science at Idaho State University.

Postmodern Social Analysis and Criticism: (Contributions in Sociology)
by John W. Murphy
In this clearly-organized and clearly-written book, Murphy provides a brief outline of the development of post-modernism and the opportunities he feels it offers critical social analysis. His aim is "not only to introduce the main tenets of postmodernism, but to answer the critics of this philosophy". . . .Canadian Philosophical Reviews
In an introductory chapter, Murphy looks at the differences between modernism and postmodernism and discusses the "metanarratives" that characterize the former. He goes on to clarify key assumptions and concepts, especially the postmodern opposition to the traditional Western separation of subject and object. In subsequent chapters, he describes the research methodology used by postmodernists, their views of social ontology and the relationship between order and structure, and the creation of socially responsible institutions. The postmodernists' reconceptualization of key aspects of cultural reality, including time, space, reason, and social relations, is examined in detail. Murphy concludes by exploring the political ramifications of the postmodernist model and its potential as a vehicle for building a genuinely democractic society.

Sociology after Postmodernism
by David Owen (Editor)
Postmodernism is frequently described as a death-blow to sociology. In proposing the end of society, it is regarded as robbing sociologists of their subject matter. This book examines the effect of postmodernism on sociological thought with individual chapters that address the topics of class, gender, race, criminology and deviance, law, culture, sexuality, emotion, medicine and the body, science and technology, and historical and political sociology. The authors argue that it is a mistake to conceive of postmodernism in terms of a fatal attack on what sociologists do. They locate the identity of sociology "after" postmodernism as a contested site that opens up the possibility of re-imagining the enterprise of sociology. The authors show how this sociological re-imagination might be conducted and trace some of the main areas to which it leads. Postmodernism is presented as a source of stimulation that requires sociologists to reconsider some of their central conventional categories and practices. The volume also offers the reader the opportunity to reflect on the contemporary state of sociological thinking. The book was commissioned to fill a perceived gap in the literature for a text that is both scholarly and accessible to students as a guide to the transformations in sociological thinking. Wide-ranging and full of insight, it will become required reading for students of sociology.