Postmodernism and Social Theory : The Debate over General Theory (REP SUB)

A new division has emerged in the social sciences between modernists and their post-modern critics. The former defend the project of a general theory with secure analytical foundations; the latter challenge the possibility and indeed the desirability of aspiring to create totalizing theories. Postmodernists contest the view of science as an autonomous sphere of knowledge and reflection. This volume brings together leading theorists in the social sciences and philosophy to debate the respective merits of modernism and postmodernism as paradigms of social inquiry. It examines the relation between science, critique and narrative, addressing questions about the moral and political meaning of science today.