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Aaron Hanlon @AaronRHanlon
, 8 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
1) This is a thread on postmodernism, and how this term is now being used in misleading and destructive ways. In short: postmodernism is not a belief system, and ‘postmodernist’ isn’t akin to ‘liberal,’ ‘conservative,’ ‘libertarian,’ etc.
2) There is no political class of people, so far as I’m aware (and I work in an English department) who identify politically or make political decisions based on ‘postmodernism.’
3) There is no political class of people whose political calculus is, eg ‘I support trans rights because Deleuze says it’s, like, whatever man. There is no truth.’ This is not where progressive politics comes from.
4) Tellingly, the title of Lyotard’s book is ‘The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge.’ Postmodernism was a descriptive account of the state of knowledge and culture. It was fundamentally a diagnosis, not a politics.
5) It’s reasonable to think that descriptive account is wrong. I think much of it is wrong. But we need to get one thing straight: ‘post-modern’ was how some philosophers *described* an already-existing state of knowledge and culture.
6) Which is to say: there was never a group of ‘postmodernists’ agitating to *bring about* the destabilization of grand narratives or big-T Truth. Whatever stakes people have in postmodernism being a correct description aren’t about, nor have much to do with, partisan politics.
7) There are so many better explanations for a progressive politics focused on, eg, the rights and wellbeing of so-called ‘identity’ groups, starting with the simple facts of demographic change, actual progress (in Pinker’s sense), stagnant wages, and tech globalization.
8) So stop using ‘postmodernist’ like it describes some kind of identity group, politics, or belief system. If you want to posit even a strong link, the burden of demonstrating causality remains on you. Your usage of ‘postmodernist’ borders on conspiracy theory. /end
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