Question

What is postmodernism and how does it affect social policies?

Answer 1

Postmodernism was a concept which was famous and trending among the intellectual circles in the 1980s. A disappointment with the traditional forms of politics and social philosophy provided a space for postmodern theory to achieve attention. Marxism was also loosing favour with the intellectuals who had started to rethink the concepts of liberation and progress.

Social Policy is explained as actions, legislation and programs by policymakers to promote the role of welfare state both for individual and society. Other than legislation and action, social policy also contains research and the academic study of the impact and evaluation of these programs. Research in social policy contains comparing and exploring different models of policy developed across countries and over the period.

Postmodernism lowers the notions of truth and social progress thus relegating concepts such as equality, freedom and social justice as social constructs. So these are causing damage to the study and practice of social policy.

The assumption on which social policy functions is that there are inherent human needs such as health, nutrition, education, work/employment etc. that need to be fulfilled. Through the postmodernism school of thought, human nature turns into a socially constructed concept and thus human needs are made upon through language rather than being natural. Postmodern theorists also have agreed that Knowledge was produced in language, and that languages were plural, relative and incomparable. Thus, along with postmodern theory, the rationale of the welfare state may also decrease.