Category: Postmodernism

Which one do you personally feel is strongest in explaining the family? Why do you feel this way?

Postmodernism concept involved an extensive range of ideals practices and methods which incorporated several significant and philosophical notions considered to be postmodern. The most common being post structuralism and feminism. It is hardly considered as a philosophical movement but rather a concept of handling traditional practices and ideas in a non-traditional mode which is totally different from the common super structural methods. However the exact definition of postmodernism has never been fully established.

Postmodernism explains that most opinions on realities are social elements and are therefore likely to change. It puts emphasis on power relations, motivation in the rising of beliefs and ideas as well as the role of language. It specifies the importance of differentiating male and female, white and black and colonial versus imperial. In addition it holds the reality of being dependent on the interested parties and the nature of those interests.

It was claimed that there is no apparent truth in the world and that the way people view life is based on their cultures when growing up. Post-modernism had influenced several cultural fields such as music, architecture, history, religion, literature, sociology and visual arts (Santos, 1996).

Relate the theory of the paper to social class

Most scholars suggested that postmodernism was an uprising of ideas from the modern era. It was also termed as significant aspects of modernism. Since the term had so many ways of being expressed, the various aspects of modernity are criticized while they are chosen to be consistent. Arguments were raised on the basic nature of knowledge as known in philosophy. Those who consider the term meaningful argue that modernism has significant weaknesses in the knowledge system.

The argument for the significance of the term implies that there has been establishment of decentralization of technological and economic factors. The media which has for a long time dominated perceptions of people was criticized as not being unique but would acquire information from each other.

It was despised for lack of objectivity and meaning due to unreliable sources of communication. Globalization created pluralism and united the global community that lacked a domineering center of leadership or intellectual production. Moreover it was a force which caused decentralization of the modernized life by bringing creative ideas on manufacturing and communication (Ritzer, 1996).

Why postmodernism?

This is one of the elements that cover all sectors of a family. It gets easier to compare and contrast family values, cultures, and way of doing things as well as possible outcomes of upbringings.

Strengths

• It is a liberating movement  Postmodernism offers reformations and a new way of doing things by showing concern to those who were oppressed in society. Those who have been in the modern times hardly went through oppression but rather some groups of women, ethnic minorities, racial groups and communities that were minimal in number. Those who also shared different opinions against the western cultures would go through oppression. In postmodernism, such groups were given the privilege of establishing their own sentiments as they thought right regarding gender, religion, race, oppression and politics.
• By championing the cause of the poor- Postmodernism presents the end of history that has been dominated by the western culture. It is therefore viewed as a phase of freedom because it liberates everyone who was bound in the boundaries of discourse. In addition to this, people rejected the ruler ship of white people as they would call them. There was development even in the rural areas that had been neglected for a long time yet had potential. This portrayed a change in the defined roles because the third world gave its views and opinions according to their perceptions, but people opted to do their own research and present their views. However political movements determined a wide range of concepts and knowledge that would replace the western way of doing things.
• Cultural reinvention  Globalization is very significant in producing images that are related to the various traditions. As a result, pluralism and opinions on nationalism are managed in a better way. This form of managing pluralism can be defined as an enforcement of multiculturalism that gives way to the consistent birth of ethnic identities that would hardly compromise the set objectives of modernization. Cultural reinvention generally focuses on the various differences between the non western and western cultures.
• Mass tourism and traditionalism  One of the results of globalization is mass tourism. This also is an important aspect of traditionalism. This provides a political and social cause for opposing a single model of cultures for modernization. Some of the programs based in communities for purposes of development are connected to traditionalism (Lee, 1994).

Weaknesses

• Multiculturalism brings difficulties- It was argued that due to the knowledge gained from modern science, there was destruction of various forms of knowledge especially those that were strange to people who were dominated by western cultures. In effect, there was fear and silence amongst those with different views and their knowledge was dominated by destruction. This brought about crisis since people wondered how dialogue can be initiated in a multicultural way yet some cultures had been forced to remain quiet. It was therefore assumed that multiculturalism was implemented for a group of people who would later act like they were concerned with the non western cultures but would do nothing about it.
• Postmodernism is also Eurocentric met narrative- This implies that by rejecting the old met narratives was in another sense creating another one. Postmodernism was birthed in the west and had different views from modernity. Its main purpose was to destroy some of the old narratives such as history and tradition, and religion was controversial because it was these factors that brought a difference between the non western and the western. This is to say that postmodernists brought a new met narrative that helped establish the secular world. It was insisted that African civilization despised the ideas of the West. The non west was later marginalized because of the obsession by postmodernists who were full of cynicism and irony.
• Postmodernism barely deals with aspects of power because it hardly questions power structures, instead it establishes untrue notions that have caused the west to show respect to the non west by globalization. Therefore the process of including dialogue between the two cultures can be viewed as exclusion because the principles applied remain the same but the way of handling them is different. This shows a lack of commitment from the western, because they only do that to make it look like they have accommodated the non western. This brought questions like why it would be important to discuss a plan on development of the rural areas when the evaluators already have a method before it is implemented (Kellner, 1992).

References

Kellner, D. (1992). Popular Culture and the Construction of Postmodern Identities. New York: Oxford publishers.

Lee, R. (1994). Modernization, Postmodernism and the Third World. London: Rout Ledge publishers.

Ritzer, G. (1996). Modern Sociological Theory. New York: Macmillan publishers.

Santos, D. (1996). On Oppositional Postmodernism. London: Rout ledge publishers.

Introduction

Postmodernism (as introduced by Foucault) is a social philosophy that looks to substitute the fizzled philosophies that guaranteed freedom from need (Venkateswaran et al., 2019, p. 89). Postmodernism in the context of social work: refusal to follow the grand social change theories. Postmodern principles in social work: locally targeted approaches. Implications of postmodernism in social work: client-oriented strategies. Significance of postmodernism in a corporate setting: an opportunity for a targeted framework for a specific family setting. Implications: the ability to address culture-specific issues when developing an intervention.

Social Constructivism

Social constructivism: another framework for addressing clinical tasks and responsibilities. Social constructivism: collaborative co-construction of knowledge (Batten & Ross, 2021, para. 1). Role of social constructivism in the clinical setting: a basis for cross-disciplinary cooperation. Opportunity for managing data effectively and addressing the needs of customers as expeditiously as possible. Main premise: learning environment as the gateway into the wider community of learning. Opportunities: introduction of multiple perspectives into social ad scholarly discussions, thus, building upon the current knowledge basis.

Assessing an Event

Event to analyze: the changes in the public health rates due to the continuous effects of the coronavirus. Effects of social constructivism on the subject at hand: gradual identification of the probable solution and the creation of the vaccine. Reasons for the effects to be observed: increased collaboration across disciplines among experts on an international and intercultural level (Omodan & Tsotetsi, 2020). Outcomes: increased understanding of the subject matter and insights into the reasons for people avoid following the prescribed health management strategies.

Event Analysis

Target event: the explosion of cases of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting social and professional responses. General trend: focus on shared knowledge as the means of handling the issue. The exponential rise in anxiety and the levels of fear, as well as an increase in false information among the public. Postmodern perspective: factors including the broad availability of data sources (for the general public) and the emphasis on interdisciplinary work within the clinical setting (for healthcare experts).

My Identity: Analysis

Personal identity: immutable characteristics (race, sex, age). Sociocultural characteristics (temper, values, philosophy, religion, ethics). Strong understanding of the importance of diversity. Appreciation for learning as the basis for self-improvement. Further course of development: emphasis on academic efforts; active learning of other cultures; development of the professional and interpersonal dialogue with members of other cultures and ethnicities.

Personal Perception of Knowledge

Personal perception of knowledge: a structure with neatly organized concepts and delineated connections. Interpretation of knowledge: a product of both collective effort and personal work. Collaboration and knowledge sharing as the cornerstone principles of development. Continuous learning: the key to personal and professional development and the training of leadership skills. Attention to critical thinking and analysis as the foundation for effective knowledge building and the development of intercultural dialogue.

References

Batten, J. S., & Ross, M. S. (2021). A systematic review of social constructivist pedagogies in computing and their effects on broadening participation for women in undergraduate computing. ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access. Web.

Boikivska, G., Vynnychuk, R., Povstyn, O., Yurkevich, H., & Gontar, Z. (2021). Cognitive aspects in the process of human capital management in conditions of post-pandemic social constructivism. Postmodern Openings, 12(1), 296-307.

Omodan, B. I., & Tsotetsi, C. T. (2020). Decolonization of knowledge-construction in university classrooms: the place of social constructivism. African Journal of Gender, Society and Development (formerly Journal of Gender, Information and Development in Africa), 9(2), 183-204.

Venkateswaran, P. S., Sabarirajan, A., Rajest, S. S., & Rajan, R. (2019). The Theory of the Postmodernism in Consumerism, Mass Culture and Globalization. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera, Lepidoptera Research Foundation Inc USA, 50(4), 97-113.

Modernism is a school of thought that is believed to have begun during the period of Renaissance. This movement marked the age of Enlightenment in the early 20^th century, as it led to rejection of traditional ideals and principles. This philosophical term looked for new perspectives to act as foundation for their knowledge, that is, it aimed at disapproving the irrational and subjective mind of man.

It supported personal ideologies on issues like religious beliefs; for instance, one does not have to accept an idea because it is religious. Self consciousness was meant to assist in criticizing an idea, then arriving at a conclusion at last.

In modernism, one has to identify, evaluate, criticize, and understand a concept, then, choose without external interference. The need for premises/ reasons to attain truth remained fundamental during this time (Johnson, 2007).

Notably, Karl Marx (1818-1883), Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and Sigmund Freud (18561939) were influential thinkers during the modern era. Specifically, Freud invented the subconscious part of the mind, the superego, which helps in analyzing how one thinks, in other words, evaluating the correctness of the thinking.

Together with the superego, were the Id and the ego. In addition, this concept of the subconscious mind dimension analyzes how people think about realistic situations/ideas and how we view our selves. Our thinking starts with the Id, where we do anything necessary to satisfy the impending need for survival (Sigmund Freud n.d.).

The next level is the ego, which keeps us with the reality of external world, that is, the world consists of others and, therefore, we are not alone. The ego helps us to adapt to the physical environment and store our experiences. The above theory that analyzes the human consciousness was called the Psycho-Analysis.

From these dimensions, Freud insisted that things should not be construed to be true as they appear, the reality lies beyond what we can physically see. Therefore, to unearth the truth we have to conduct some complex and perverted actions.

Clearly, modernism tried to eliminate subjectivity as a means of thinking and arriving at conclusions. Modernism tried to eliminate fixed concepts and ideas on varied issues; therefore, one has to have reasons to support his/her claims.

Moreover, in Freuds Interpretation of Dreams 1900, he reveals that dreams have displaced meanings and abstract symbols that calls for an in depth analysis and recollection in order to find the true meanings or complete validity. His proclamation that one only dreams whatever he/she encounters in life shows that a human being is largely a product of his/her environment and experience.

Freud links how the brain functions with the nature of dreams. Therefore, one should reflexively be aware of these biases in order to free himself/herself from them and aim to be objective in his/her decisions. In general, the society becomes increasingly more reflective and self-aware of new ideas.

Markedly, modernism movement instituted inquisitive minds in people. It begins with self-doubt, which reveals the methodology of justifying mind consciousness in accepting truth (Johnson, 2007). However, the control of unconscious and irrational desires of human beings is contradictive to the enlightenment philosophy that supports mans reasoning as guidance to truth, yet human beings are essentially irrational beings.

This weakness of Freuds assertion led to criticism of some philosophers like Anouchka Grose. He disagreed with Freuds Oedipus complex of socialization claiming that it was quite embarrassing as this act increases immoral behaviours and it is universally forbidden.

The French scholar Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) supported the existentialism themes in the middle of the 20^th century through his pieces of work that touched on nothingness, freedom, alienation and boredom (Mastin, 2008). His cornerstones were the self and ethical interests. Therefore, he reflected on understanding the existence of man by using phenomenological methods.

He characterised the human condition with drastic freedom and groundlessness (Mastin, 2008). In his book, Being Nothingness, he outlines various forms of consciousness that lie beyond peoples experience, which involves investigating what is meant to be human. To be conscious means that one must be conscious of something; therefore, the definition depends on another thing.

In an in depth study of human, he comes up with two types of beings, which are for-itself and in-itself. The later signifies autonomy and non-relational manner. This methodology gives one the power to create an extrinsic self identity. Sartres work gave people freedom of creating values for their own lives. On the part of the ego, Sartre acknowledges the existence of consciousness of the world and the ego.

Sartre proposes a high levelled procedure of understanding human consciousness, involving pre-reflective and reflective level. He further agrees that people tend to construe that the self is never present prior to a reflective consciousness (Mastin, 2008).

When a person thinks of anything, he/she forms a picture in the mind. In case the picture does not exist, then, there does not exist a universal structure thus the intention to be conscious is still unsuccessful.

Ethically, Sartre noted that conscious proceedings are spontaneous; therefore, emotional consciousness is pre-reflective consciousness. As a result, voluntary act is different from the pre-reflective act; it has the will, which exists in the reflective act.

This complex way of thinking discloses the key to understanding of the self, which has negating powers in it. Upon reflection, instability within the self is created, leading to the lack of self identity. Surely, the methodology supported a complex and valid distinction between two transcendence phenomena of beings (Mastin, 2008).

The two analyses of for-itself and in-itself reveal what is meant by being a human. Sartres philosophical methods give people an unlimited freedom of making varied choices, which are not due to their bad faith. But, the freedom has limitations, social and physical constraints. The life of an individual is similar to a project that is unfolding as one makes choices amidst the challenges that constrain the freedom.

In the end, a proper coordination of facts and transcendences help disclose an authentic man. One has to avoid pitfalls like bad faith and exercise his/her freedom diligently to continue understanding the nature of consciousness.

Man is what he makes of himself; he then realizes his existence first before using his will in making choices that he/she can be held responsible for (Existentialism is a Humanism, n.d.). Since man cannot change everything, that is, power to change things is limited, despair arises. In addition, the future is fully controlled by someone else.

Postmodernism is a recent school of thought that claims that there is no clear reality that can be known objectively; it a relativistic approach that does not depend on absolute truth and objectivity. However, its way of thinking proved that reality can be experienced through objectivity. Manifestly, modernism highly objected subjectivity in arriving at decisions.

However, postmodernism does not agree with most of modernity aspects. Postmodernism believes in New Age thinking in arriving at truth (Introduction to Postmodern Philosophy, n.d.). Notably, after the renaissance, the use of scientific method changed the perception of understanding the world.

Then enlightenment (modernism) followed. The doubts on the ability to understand reality objectively by David Hume led to some instability in modernism. This in turn led to transition from modernism to postmodernism.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was instrumental in this transition, as he out rightly rejected Kants theory that believed that all people perceive the world (reality) similarly; he supported the objective truth. Philosophers had to first grapple with textual interpretation.

On interpretation, the postmodernism philosophers agreed that objectivity cannot be applied in understanding the correct meaning of any written script. Therefore, meaning comes out through engagement in a dialogue with the original author.

Again, there was a problem on whether language could objectively reveal the truth. Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) concluded that this could not happen as language development is socially habituated; therefore, the truth is socially constructed, just like language.

Modernism recognised humans capabilities to find solutions that had been perennial since the medieval times. In addition, it respected human rights of expression. It did not also define the limits of objectivism and reasoning.

Postmodernism, on the other hand, came up to correct the already existing imbalance; for instance, by convincing us that we have a limited potential to comprehend and change the universe. In essence, postmodernism corrects the problems, but it over-corrects the problems (Introduction to Postmodern Philosophy, n.d.).

In the 20^th century Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was among the great philosophical figures who defined the key issues of postmodernism. For example, a close scrutiny of the correspondence theory of truth that made people believe that scientific truths were equal to absolute truths was altered by removing the equivalency since no scientific researcher made an unlimited number of observations to show that such exceptions exist.

Postmodernism, actually, helps man in knowing that knowledge acquisition and explanations have limits. This reveals the cause for the drastic shift from modernism to postmodernism. Further, it holds on the coherence theory of truth, which supports that an idea remains true to man if it also coheres with other internal perceptions that man holds about the world (Introduction to Postmodern Philosophy, n.d.).

Nonetheless, scientists can still invent new methods of making people understand how the world works. For example, just as the discovery of the spherical nature of the earth was disapproved, early scientists believed that the earth is flat.

Although postmodernism overreacts on the coherence theory, the philosophers were correct in summing up that correspondence theory has its boundaries, being contrary to what modernism held.

Postmodernism promoted the willingness to borrow information from earlier movements and openness to diverse ideas from all places. It did not hold fixed definition to all terms. This movement promotes self-thinking, which can make people rebel following a defined curriculum and divert to their own understandings.

Social epoch affects ones way of thinking. For example, sociologists make assumptions that humans have room to make their own choices and that social forces can shape the behaviour of people within a society. Clearly, social environments influence the way one thinks and possible course of action.

In the 18^th century, Western Europe underwent social and technical changes that forever changed the whole world. For example, the invention of steam engine by James Watt in the year 1769 and invention of antiseptic barrier by Joseph Lister in 1865 impelled social changes in the entire world with the aim of solving some social and economic problems (Epochs in Philosophy and Socio-Economic Epochs, 2010).

Remarkably, this social group altered peoples thinking towards looking for solutions to the then world problems since massive inventions took place during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Later, industrial revolution took centre stage in Britain, which prompted rural urban migration of people to secure jobs in the newly created industries.

This shows how social epoch affects the way of thinking of human beings in the entire world. From the historical perspective of the epoch, the global problems seem to be similar. A historical problem/issue will divert peoples attention in order to find solutions to it.

For example, researchers on HIV/AIDS have been receiving support from other new researchers who aim at discovering the new drug that can cure the disease (Epochs in Philosophy and Socio-Economic Epochs, 2010). The research has influenced the thinking of doctors, medical lecturers and their students from a historical perspective.

Both the social and historical epoch increases the thinking perspectives in the philosophical aspect, since every research has to be doubted, tested, understood, and then approved/verified for application in its respective field. Lastly, philosophical theories also base their assumptions on the culture or history of any given group.

References

Epochs in Philosophy and Socio-Economic Epochs 2010, Problems of the History of Philosophy. Web.

Existentialism is a Humanism, alexvermeer.com  understanding and mastering our brains to do cool stuff. Web.

Introduction to Postmodern Philosophy, Postmodern preaching. Web.

Johnson, L, 2007, The Enlightenment to Modernism: A Brief Examination of this Revolution in Thought and Society, Socyberty. Web.

Mastin, L, 2008, Existentialism: By Movement / School, The Basics of Philosophy: A huge subject broken down into manageable chunks. Web.

Postmodernism: Philosophy, Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Web.

Sigmund Freud, Letters, Arts & Social Sciences. Web.

There are myriad of practices, methods and ideals that encompass the concept of postmodernism, especially in regards to humanities. As a matter of fact, this concept entails quite a number of theories attached to critical thinking and philosophy, contrary to the belief that it is a philosophical movement. Some of the most common theoretical applications of postmodernism have been witnessed in humanities, post-structuralism and feminism.

In other words, postmodernism is apparently another perspective through which traditional ideologies can be approached in non-conventional ways by deviating from the mode of superculturalism that has been pre-established. Owing to this complexity in defining postmodernism, the concept has been treated and debated with lots of controversy.

For instance, this concept gained a lot of prominence during the 1950s before it could eventually be discussed alongside humanities such as art and literature during the 1960s. In any case, the origin of postmodernism is largely believed to have been developed through humanities.

On the other hand, Humanities include all those study disciplines that involve the human race but at the same time void of science or scientific origin. Most branches in literature, theology or philosophy studies lie under humanities. Theology and musical and visual arts are also studied in humanities. English, among other languages form a strong basis in humanities as a medium of communication. The liberal studies, as well as general human artistic works, are all embraced in humanities.

Needless to say, it is definite that humanities can be theoretically approached from the concept of postmodernism. For example, theories that attempt to explain metaphysics, formalism, constructivism, realism, relativism, as well as positivism, are firmly grounded in postmodernism in spite of the slight departure. In a sense, the western civilization has been critiqued through its intellectual pillars, traditional practices and the enlightenment legacy.

According to postmodernism theory, most of those elements that are considered to be realities are merely social constructs. As a result, they are prone to transform at any given time. This conforms to philosophical thinking of certain theorists of the 20^th century.

For instance, Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007) argued out that there are currently so many signs that reality seems to have disappeared. Moreover, the concept of postmodernism theoretically emphasizes the relative importance of motivations, power relations and language when formulating ideologies and belief systems. This coincides with most tenets in humanities.

In essence, the sharp binary classification has been attacked by the postmodernism concept. Some of the classifications that have been disputed include colonial versus imperial, black versus white, gay versus straight and female versus male. Such strict classifications are disputed in postmodernism. As a theoretical explanation towards humanities, studies in sociology and political science tend to benefit a lot from this standing point.

The concept continues to argue out that any form of reality should be treated as plural. In addition, realty depends on the interpretation of the parties involved as well as the nature of what is being addressed. Indeed, this can be used as theoretical explanation to the theory of truth as portrayed in philosophy. The concept of postmodernism is also quite categorical that since peoples perception of the world is subjective, absolute truth is non-existent.

To date, it is evident several fields in humanities have been influenced by postmodernism. Some of theories derived from postmodernism have been used either directly or indirectly in music, visual arts, anthropology, history, architecture, linguistics, sociology, literary criticism as well as religion.

While postmodernism has been discussed at length in various pieces of literature, it is profound to note that modernism has also vastly contributed to most humanities while the intrinsic difference between the two is minimal. Moreover, postmodernism has also changed various perspectives in the interpretation of the law as well as in business and marketing.

It has also been considered to be an academic movement by far and large since it depicts some form of reactivity to modernism in as far as the entire field of humanity is concerned. In particular, theories derived from postmodernism are often closely related to skepticism, textuality and plurality. Hence, humanity is the key beneficiary of such theoretical platforms.

In yet another description of postmodernism by Fredric Jameson, who was a literary critic, it is evident that this concept was also understood as part and parcel of the economic theory of capitalism that was cultural-based and dominant as well. This took place during the historical period of late capitalism. The latter has also been conclusively expounded by Ernest Mandel, who was a Marxist theorist.

According to the latter theorist, the concept of postmodernism took shape during the late capitalism years and was largely associated with consumer capitalism, multinational capitalism and globalization. Nonetheless, globalization seems to be a recent development in the field of humanities, although aptly fitting within the confines of postmodernism. Furthermore, the postmodern philosophy, such as the concepts of objectivity and subjectivity are purely developed from the theoretical application of postmodernism.

To recap it all, it is vital to reiterate that the development of postmodernism theory has largely influenced the ideological assumptions in the field of humanity. Therefore, it can be used as a theoretical approach to humanities.

Introduction. Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a philosophy of critical thinking that explains how logical thinking can be used to maintain relationships. For example, the ideology that every romantic relationship is unique can be used to foster intimate relationships. Unlike in the past when lovers used to compare their love story with others, criticizing knowledge gives a better view. The philosophy is based on the assumption that no person is neutral, human reasoning can be regarded as subjective, and the objectivity of knowledge is viewed as a myth (Selvi & Thilagavathi, 2018). No one can claim to explain intimacy because it is complex to be explained from a persons viewpoint.

Social Constructivism

Nations do not exist in the absence of people as they construct each others identity. The concept of social constructivism gives people the power to create and encourages them to create a positive world that they will exist in peace. Since no money, books, or nations exist without humans, every person has the power to create a world that is conducive to themselves. Different socially contracted identities may counter the opinion of others. A social group understands who they are through the values they create. The concept of intimacy applies skepticism, suspicion of specified reasons, and the role of ideology in maintaining the relationship.

Features of Social Constructivism

The us and them attitudes are formulated as people relate with each other in the society. People formed all the solutions and concepts present today to solve some of their problems (Trochmann, 2021). The people in the present world also have a chance to create ideologies and laws that solves their problems. People must therefore stop being enslaved by ideologies that were relevant in other times. The following points illustrate the Uniqueness of Social constructionists in the world.

The family, for example, was differently constructed during the patriarchy.

Men were breadwinners, while women were homemakers.

Blacks fought for their rights in the USA.

Social Constructionism and Current Events

Whenever people compare themselves with others, the comparison leads to inferiority complex leading to conflicts and war as people want to be treated equally. Current events, such as family composition and political systems, can be identified using social constructivism. Families were patriarchal formulated in the 18th and 19th centuries, and women were not entitled to benefits and decision-making roles. However, as the women understood their rights, they started advocating for them, and affirmative action became the result of their efforts to get better results (Trochmann, 2021). As people understand themselves, they associate with people of similar features and seek equality for their group.

All the provided aspects above are socially constructed and reflect reality. Today, women and men share equal rights in the USA because women refused to be guided by patriarchal ideologies, and they constructed their identities. Further, the blacks created their identity to overcome the discrimination against them. When discussing non-verbal cues, each social group has a different way of expressing themselves. Identity can be said to be performed because it involves using other means. If a person belongs to the African American group in the USA, some values are likely to express identities using things such as hip-hop music and other social identities.

Personal Identity

Personal identity differentiate people based on their beliefs, and social construction e.g. rich or poor. It is imperative to note that each personal identity has a created identity that people are expected to conform to failure, to which one may be considered an imposter (Selvi & Thilagavathi, 2018). In some religions, a religious person who does not forgive is considered less spirit. Every person has the capacity to charter an identity that is beneficial and helps them improve their quality of life.

Dialogue topic: How have women constructed their identities and fought for their rights? How can couples today form their identities to have stronger marriages?

Personal Identity and Development

The prerequisite to positive construction is self-identity as it informs peoples views. Discussion: How have these personal identity elements affected your thinking, way of life, and reasoning? Personal identity is not only a personal choice but can be informed by other external factors. For example, education affects peoples thinking and evaluation of daily life activities. Further, religion identifies what is considered a guide to how people should relate to each other. A decision made from a religious point of view may differ from a decision made from one based on a person who relies on their education and critical thinking to make their decisions.

Identity as Relational and Distributed

Identity has different facets that can make people join or feel part of the team and belong to a group. However, it is imperative to note that identity is relational and distributed. Identity is relational because it shows that a person must relate to others to form a relationship. For example, nationality can be found by determining the parents place of birth (Wight, 2018). Even if a person is born in a foreign land, if their parents belonged to a particular nation, they become nationals due to their relationship. Distributed identity is possible, especially when the person chooses a professional to belong to for a better quality of life.

Identity as Performed and Fluid

As time changes, new philosophies come, and people must conform to them for a better outcome. Identity can also be regarded as performance and fluid because it is experienced through peoples actions and performance. It is imperative to note that identity is fluid and keeps changing. Identity is therefore considered fluid as people change their identities to ensure they are relevant in the present-day challenges (Selvi & Thilagavathi, 2018). For example, during the coronavirus pandemic, people had to change their identities to remain safe. Further, as people move from one place to another in the world, they may need to change their identity to survive in the new environment.

Personal Responsibility and Commitment

Clinicians serve people from different parts of the world with different traditions and must understand various identities to achieve high-quality service delivery. The clinicians must therefore commit all matters of identity that affect other people to ensure that every person is treated according to their identity. The clinicians can be encouraged to be conscious through various techniques such as training and award systems to have all clinicians perform better (Wight, 2018). It is imperative to note that constant training and appraisal are crucial to improving how people live in a society. Since clinicians serve diverse clients, they must be well trained.

References

Selvi, C. T., & Thilagavathi, T. (2018). Study of Post-Modernism and Post-Structuralism. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 3(6), 268-322. Web.

Trochmann, M. (2021). Identities, intersectionality, and otherness: The social constructions of deservedness in American housing policy. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 43(1), 97-116. Web.

Wight, C. (2018). Post-truth, postmodernism, and alternative facts. New Perspectives, 26(3). 17-29. Web.

Which one do you personally feel is strongest in explaining the family? Why do you feel this way?

Postmodernism concept involved an extensive range of ideals practices and methods which incorporated several significant and philosophical notions considered to be postmodern. The most common being post structuralism and feminism. It is hardly considered as a philosophical movement but rather a concept of handling traditional practices and ideas in a non-traditional mode which is totally different from the common super structural methods. However the exact definition of postmodernism has never been fully established.

Postmodernism explains that most opinions on realities are social elements and are therefore likely to change. It puts emphasis on power relations, motivation in the rising of beliefs and ideas as well as the role of language. It specifies the importance of differentiating male and female, white and black and colonial versus imperial. In addition it holds the reality of being dependent on the interested parties and the nature of those interests.

It was claimed that there is no apparent truth in the world and that the way people view life is based on their cultures when growing up. Post-modernism had influenced several cultural fields such as music, architecture, history, religion, literature, sociology and visual arts (Santos, 1996).

Relate the theory of the paper to social class

Most scholars suggested that postmodernism was an uprising of ideas from the modern era. It was also termed as significant aspects of modernism. Since the term had so many ways of being expressed, the various aspects of modernity are criticized while they are chosen to be consistent. Arguments were raised on the basic nature of knowledge as known in philosophy. Those who consider the term meaningful argue that modernism has significant weaknesses in the knowledge system.

The argument for the significance of the term implies that there has been establishment of decentralization of technological and economic factors. The media which has for a long time dominated perceptions of people was criticized as not being unique but would acquire information from each other.

It was despised for lack of objectivity and meaning due to unreliable sources of communication. Globalization created pluralism and united the global community that lacked a domineering center of leadership or intellectual production. Moreover it was a force which caused decentralization of the modernized life by bringing creative ideas on manufacturing and communication (Ritzer, 1996).

Why postmodernism?

This is one of the elements that cover all sectors of a family. It gets easier to compare and contrast family values, cultures, and way of doing things as well as possible outcomes of upbringings.

Strengths

• It is a liberating movement – Postmodernism offers reformations and a new way of doing things by showing concern to those who were oppressed in society. Those who have been in the modern times hardly went through oppression but rather some groups of women, ethnic minorities, racial groups and communities that were minimal in number. Those who also shared different opinions against the western cultures would go through oppression. In postmodernism, such groups were given the privilege of establishing their own sentiments as they thought right regarding gender, religion, race, oppression and politics.
• By championing the cause of the poor- Postmodernism presents the end of history that has been dominated by the western culture. It is therefore viewed as a phase of freedom because it liberates everyone who was bound in the boundaries of discourse. In addition to this, people rejected the ruler ship of white people as they would call them. There was development even in the rural areas that had been neglected for a long time yet had potential. This portrayed a change in the defined roles because the third world gave its views and opinions according to their perceptions, but people opted to do their own research and present their views. However political movements determined a wide range of concepts and knowledge that would replace the western way of doing things.
• Cultural reinvention – Globalization is very significant in producing images that are related to the various traditions. As a result, pluralism and opinions on nationalism are managed in a better way. This form of managing pluralism can be defined as an enforcement of multiculturalism that gives way to the consistent birth of ethnic identities that would hardly compromise the set objectives of modernization. Cultural reinvention generally focuses on the various differences between the non western and western cultures.
• Mass tourism and traditionalism – One of the results of globalization is mass tourism. This also is an important aspect of traditionalism. This provides a political and social cause for opposing a single model of cultures for modernization. Some of the programs based in communities for purposes of development are connected to traditionalism (Lee, 1994).

Weaknesses

• Multiculturalism brings difficulties- It was argued that due to the knowledge gained from modern science, there was destruction of various forms of knowledge especially those that were strange to people who were dominated by western cultures. In effect, there was fear and silence amongst those with different views and their knowledge was dominated by destruction. This brought about crisis since people wondered how dialogue can be initiated in a multicultural way yet some cultures had been forced to remain quiet. It was therefore assumed that multiculturalism was implemented for a group of people who would later act like they were concerned with the non western cultures but would do nothing about it.
• Postmodernism is also Eurocentric met narrative- This implies that by rejecting the old met narratives was in another sense creating another one. Postmodernism was birthed in the west and had different views from modernity. Its main purpose was to destroy some of the old narratives such as history and tradition, and religion was controversial because it was these factors that brought a difference between the non western and the western. This is to say that postmodernists brought a new met narrative that helped establish the secular world. It was insisted that African civilization despised the ideas of the West. The non west was later marginalized because of the obsession by postmodernists who were full of cynicism and irony.
• Postmodernism barely deals with aspects of power because it hardly questions power structures, instead it establishes untrue notions that have caused the west to show respect to the non west by globalization. Therefore the process of including dialogue between the two cultures can be viewed as exclusion because the principles applied remain the same but the way of handling them is different. This shows a lack of commitment from the western, because they only do that to make it look like they have accommodated the non western. This brought questions like why it would be important to discuss a plan on development of the rural areas when the evaluators already have a method before it is implemented (Kellner, 1992).

References

Kellner, D. (1992). “Popular Culture and the Construction of Postmodern Identities.” New York: Oxford publishers.

Lee, R. (1994). “Modernization, Postmodernism and the Third World.” London: Rout Ledge publishers.

Ritzer, G. (1996). “Modern Sociological Theory.” New York: Macmillan publishers.

Santos, D. (1996). “On Oppositional Postmodernism.” London: Rout ledge publishers.

Civil discourse is not only a verbal method of transmitting information but also a tool for solving personal problems or generating new meanings. The last significant personal discussion was on civilization’s topic, namely, what would come after postmodernism. It can be said that postmodernism is the current cultural and philosophical paradigm that determines the structure and content of various fundamental ideas and arts. This essay aims to describe the conclusion reached by the author after the last civil discourse.

Many philosophers and other humanitarian specialists believe that the modern global society in general and the Western world in particular lives in the paradigm of postmodernism. Postmodern ideas imply the individual’s liberation from all traditions, moral norms, and objective reality. Postmodernism suggests that culture is a multidimensional phenomenon, where there is no single cultural pattern or trend. Such a concept creates difficulties in answering the question of what might be the next cultural climate. During the civil discourse, it was found out that each subsequent cultural model denied the previous one while offering something new. For example, postmodernism’s chaos and irrationalism are a natural denial of modernism’s order and rationalism. Therefore, the next cultural paradigm will deny the diversity of multiple ideas and the subjective perspective, but from a new, previously unbalanced perspective.

This essay is a description of civil discourse on how the cultural climate will look like after the postmodernism era. It was found out that the change of cultural paradigms occurs on the principle of logical denial of the previous cultural model along with the introduction of new ideas. It means that after-postmodernism will deny the concepts of subversion, chaos, and subjectivity. It is important to note that this reasoning is more appealing to the Western philosophical school.

Postmodernism is characterized by relativism, skepticism, and subjectivism, which are general suspicion for basic reasons of the existence of different concepts. The perception rejects the concepts of objectivity, rationality, and universal truth. The concepts emphasize a multiplicity of perspectives and diversity of human experiences. This means that when watching the videos, the theory helps one understand themes from different perspectives rather than looking for predefined concepts and beliefs. The theory assumes that political ideologies have no fixed points, foundations, universalism, and constructed knowledge. Post-modernists argue that mainstream theories promote marginalization and historical non-state actors; hence there is no objective knowledge of social concepts and phenomena. Postmodernism theories show that images shape our lives, but they do not bear a relationship with reality. According to Foucault, social schools represent the interests of persons in power (Holtz, 2020). Antagonism and fragmentation are essential human conditions where conflicts occur, but there are no common grounds.

Postmodernism makes it hard to formulate theories of the social world. Components of postmodernism indicate that we still live in the same modern society but oppose the universality and generality of critical enlightenment. People are products of power, and power exists everywhere; however, knowledge does not free a person and is always embedded in a web of power relations (Bonevac, 2013). Knowledge is a form of power made possible by the will of power, and what counts as knowledge differs within different societies. The theories challenge the approaches to current issues allowing individuals to understand different concepts as in the Bonevac video as the speaker discusses concepts such as self-knowledge, decentering, and deconstruction (Bonevac, 2013). The theories help one understand the notion presented by the Dove commercial film on how images pervert and mask basic reality (Piper, 2006). Additionally, a video shows how the first human could live without a heart pulse (TheBoredMind, 2015). In the video, surgeons perform surgery to remove the heat and allow the individual to survive without heartbeats.

Postmodernism theories challenge the notion that creativity and diversity are common and should be appreciated. Changes will always occur in the world; hence people should embrace the diversity of ideas and champion new ideas and innovations. Postmodernism theories help us understand films watched in class. It lays a framework to understand the film’s concepts and how they relate to life, encouraging reflection and critical thinking.

References

Holtz, P. (2020). Does postmodernism really entail a disregard for the truth? Similarities and differences in postmodern and critical rationalist conceptualizations of truth, progress, and empirical research methods. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 545959.

Piper, T. (2006). Dove evolution [Video]. YouTube.

Bonevac, D. (2013). Postmodernism [Video]. YouTube.

TheBoredMind. (2015). Meet the world’s first heartless human able to live without a pulse [Video]. YouTube.

Introduction

Postmodernism (as introduced by Foucault) is a “social philosophy that looks to substitute the fizzled philosophies that guaranteed freedom from need” (Venkateswaran et al., 2019, p. 89). Postmodernism in the context of social work: refusal to follow the grand social change theories. Postmodern principles in social work: locally targeted approaches. Implications of postmodernism in social work: client-oriented strategies. Significance of postmodernism in a corporate setting: an opportunity for a targeted framework for a specific family setting. Implications: the ability to address culture-specific issues when developing an intervention.

Social Constructivism

Social constructivism: another framework for addressing clinical tasks and responsibilities. Social constructivism: “collaborative co-construction of knowledge” (Batten & Ross, 2021, para. 1). Role of social constructivism in the clinical setting: a basis for cross-disciplinary cooperation. Opportunity for managing data effectively and addressing the needs of customers as expeditiously as possible. Main premise: learning environment as the gateway into the wider community of learning. Opportunities: introduction of multiple perspectives into social ad scholarly discussions, thus, building upon the current knowledge basis.

Assessing an Event

Event to analyze: the changes in the public health rates due to the continuous effects of the coronavirus. Effects of social constructivism on the subject at hand: gradual identification of the probable solution and the creation of the vaccine. Reasons for the effects to be observed: increased collaboration across disciplines among experts on an international and intercultural level (Omodan & Tsotetsi, 2020). Outcomes: increased understanding of the subject matter and insights into the reasons for people avoid following the prescribed health management strategies.

Event Analysis

Target event: the explosion of cases of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting social and professional responses. General trend: focus on shared knowledge as the means of handling the issue. The exponential rise in anxiety and the levels of fear, as well as an increase in false information among the public. Postmodern perspective: factors including the broad availability of data sources (for the general public) and the emphasis on interdisciplinary work within the clinical setting (for healthcare experts).

My Identity: Analysis

Personal identity: immutable characteristics (race, sex, age). Sociocultural characteristics (temper, values, philosophy, religion, ethics). Strong understanding of the importance of diversity. Appreciation for learning as the basis for self-improvement. Further course of development: emphasis on academic efforts; active learning of other cultures; development of the professional and interpersonal dialogue with members of other cultures and ethnicities.

Personal Perception of Knowledge

Personal perception of knowledge: a structure with neatly organized concepts and delineated connections. Interpretation of knowledge: a product of both collective effort and personal work. Collaboration and knowledge sharing as the cornerstone principles of development. Continuous learning: the key to personal and professional development and the training of leadership skills. Attention to critical thinking and analysis as the foundation for effective knowledge building and the development of intercultural dialogue.

References

Batten, J. S., & Ross, M. S. (2021). A systematic review of social constructivist pedagogies in computing and their effects on broadening participation for women in undergraduate computing. ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access. Web.

Boikivska, G., Vynnychuk, R., Povstyn, O., Yurkevich, H., & Gontar, Z. (2021). Cognitive aspects in the process of human capital management in conditions of post-pandemic social constructivism. Postmodern Openings, 12(1), 296-307.

Omodan, B. I., & Tsotetsi, C. T. (2020). Decolonization of knowledge-construction in university classrooms: the place of social constructivism. African Journal of Gender, Society and Development (formerly Journal of Gender, Information and Development in Africa), 9(2), 183-204.

Venkateswaran, P. S., Sabarirajan, A., Rajest, S. S., & Rajan, R. (2019). The Theory of the Postmodernism in Consumerism, Mass Culture and Globalization. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera, Lepidoptera Research Foundation Inc USA, 50(4), 97-113.

It would be fair enough to state that translation in its practical use appeared together with the appearance of the mankind. Not only finding the lexical equivalents, but also interpreting one’s thoughts and ideas, and conveying the meaning of different signs were the tasks of translation at that time. Nowadays the process of translation is even more complex, and simply knowing two languages does not make one a translator.

What is more, with the development of the humanity, more and more translation problems occur, and the number of skills needed to translate is increasing constantly. As it can be seen, translation is realized by humans and for humans, which means that these two notions are inseparable. For this reason, the interdependence between the translation and anthropology, the study of humans, is hard to overestimate.

Indeed, one of the fundamental tasks of anthropology is understanding different cultures, which “inevitably involves either the translation of words, ideas, and meanings from one culture to another, or the translation to a set of analytical concepts” (Rubel, 1).

This means that translation in all its forms is crucial for anthropology. On the other hand, translation cannot exist separately from anthropology; knowledge of the cultural background is as important as knowledge of language grammar for a good translation. That is why, the translator’s practice is always connected to the anthropological studies.

However, despite the interdependence of the two disciplines, there was a period in history, when anthropological ideas and translator’s principles encountered. Specifically, the post-modern anthropology denied the possibility of effective learning about other cultures.

For instance, the post-modernist ideas in the field of anthropology were based on the opinion that “anthropology could recognize, respect, and celebrate differences between cultures, only, it appears, by effacing differences within cultures” (Coombe, 191).

In other words, postmodernist anthropologists defended the point of view that any attempt to learn and understand other culture is destined to fail, as far as there is no way of comprehending the other culture other than being a part of it.

This excluded the traditional need for translation, in which the attempts to understand cultures were crucial. Thus, such tendencies in the anthropological theory had a great impact on the development of practical translation patterns.

It may seem that the occurrence of the mentioned ideas in anthropology decreased the importance of translation. Indeed, if the scientists focused on studying a local culture, there was no more need to translate from and to other languages.

In addition, the cross-cultural and comparative studies became less spread, leading to a lower level of cultural exchange. However, in reality these changes did not reject the translation, but changed it considerably.

First of all, while describing the influence of the postmodernist anthropology on translator’s practice, it is worth mentioning that the deeper understanding of the native language was developed.

Studying the local culture allowed the anthropologists collect much information about the language history, its development, differences in use in various regions, etc.

As a result, the ethnographical background of the language was investigated, including the etymology and origin of the words. This suggests that the translators were first of all linguists, who had a sense of their own language. This quality is crucial for translation into the translator’s native language.

What is more, due to the decrease in the cross-cultural exchange, all the languages became “purer”. This means that the languages were isolated from the borrowings, internationalisms, and barbarisms, which allowed preserving the ethnic flavor and original sounding of the language.

In contrast, nowadays the process of globalization suggests that every language is overfilled with the words, which have the same meaning in every part of the world. From this point of view, it can be said that the translation according to the principles of the postmodern anthropology became rich in relation to national coloring.

As far as the postmodern anthropology was practiced all around the world, this process has “purified” all the languages. This created a firm foundation for the further cultural exchange, which was on its peak a bit later. One more peculiarity of the translator’s practice was that the translations had a more local orientation.

While earlier the translations seek to “address different audiences and meet different expectations” (Hansen, 34), now they oriented their works at a certain type of audience. In other words, with the narrowing down of the culture studies, the translation efficiency has increased.

The translators therefore did not address their works to the audience that was aware of the cultural differences between various communities anymore; they knew that the members of the audience were rather bounded with the traditional models of world perception, determined by their own culture.

Based on the evidence given below, it may seem logical that the task of the translator is to render the meaning of the source language message into the target language; however, the cultures of the two nationalities should not be mixed.

As some anthropologists noted, from the point of view of cultures, the translators should preserve “the idiosyncrasies of both the domestic and foreign cultures in their common ground, i.e. in pure language” (Muller, 74). However, this concept differs from what we call a translation nowadays.

Indeed, today the translator’s practice demands making a research about the traditions and history of the other nation; moreover, descriptive translation, where the cultural differences are being decoded, is often preferred to the word for word or faithful translation. This can be explained by the fact that the fullest translation is the one that renders the original meaning rather than simply gives a corresponding vocabulary variant.

In order to prove what had been previously said, several examples can be given. The expression “Uncle Sam” is well-known to all the Americans; however, how should it be translated to an audience in an Uzbek village? Another case is the Russian name Vanka, which is often used to address an infantile and unserious man.

In other languages there is no such equivalent, so for example to English this word would be translated simply as “clown.” Obviously, not taking into consideration the national peculiarities and ethnographical differences puts the translation at risk of being irrelevant and misinterpreting.

All in all, it should be said that the translation as a practical application of language and anthropology as a study of civilization are mutually dependent. The postmodernist anthropological ideas influenced the translation practice in a way that involved separating cultures one from another rather than integrating them into one.

On one hand, this tendency was rather positive in terms of national coloring preservation and vocabulary organization. On the other hand, it was rather limiting because of its rejection of multi-cultural exchange. Thus, this approach, as any other approach in science, cannot be considered as neither ultimately misleading or totally sufficient.

Works Cited

Coombe, Rosemary 1991, “Encountering the postmodern: new directions in cultural anthropology”. Canadian Association of Sociology and Anthropology, vol. 28(2).

Hansen, Gyde, Malmkaer, Kirsten, Gile, Daniel 2003. Claims, changes, and challenges in translation studies. EST Congress, Copenhagen.

Muller, Klaus 1995, “Transferring culture in translation – modern and postmodern options”. Traduction, Terminologie, Redaction, vol.8 (1), p.65-83.

Rubel, Paula, Rosman, Abraham 2003. Translating cultures: perspectives on translation and anthropology. Berg, Oxford.