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Marxism and the Postmodern Society

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Marxism and the Postmodern Society
Society has now entered a postmodern age and we need to understand it. Assess this view. (33marks)
Postmodern society is rich in choice, freedom and diversity, this has caused society to fragment and this has led to secularisation. Postmodernity has caused things such as globalisation. Globalisation refers to the growing interconnectedness of societies. As we are now living in a postmodern society many sociologists believe that we need new theories as traditional theories such as Functionalism and Marxism are outdated and are deemed irrelevant to many sociologists. Functionalism and Marxism are often described as ‘modernist’ as they explain the findings of modern society, where it follows the industrialisation of the western world. Postmodernists reject the views of the modernist theorists as they claim that they are metanarratives (big stories). They believe that sociology needs to develop new theories so we can fully understand postmodern society. Postmodernity has brought changes from modernity these changes include freedom and choice. There is also less focus on science, postmodernists reject scientific research methods in their research. Although postmodernists are criticised for being subjective, as they gain meanings.
There are four main changes which have brought about globalisation. These four changes are; technological changes, economic changes, political changes and changes in culture and identity. Religion was probably the 'original globaliser' - major religions have rapidly spread across the world through historical processes such as conquest, colonisation and migration. An examination of religion in a global context suggests that religious belief systems continue to exert great influence over social, cultural and political events. The global evidence does not support the concept of a secular global world. Rather it suggests that globally religion is probably spreading faster than ever. Economic globalization can be reflected in the idea that all

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