Review: Out of the Maze?

Twists and Riddles of Postmodern Thinking

Author(s): Jorge Arditi
Review by: Jorge Arditi
Source: Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan., 1993), pp. 19-23
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2074968
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 SYMPOSIUM 19
have not figuredverymuchin avant-garde Meltrovid,Stjepan. 1992. Durkheimand Postmodern
discussionsof PoMo. Perhapssoontheywill. Culture.New York:Aldinede Gruyter.
Rosenau,PaulineMarie. 1992. Post-Modernism and the
Social Sciences: Insights,Inroads, and Intrusions.
References Princeton:Princeton UniversityPress.
Taylor, Charles. 1992. The Ethics of Authenticity.
Agger,Ben. 1990. The Decline of Discourse:Reading,
Cambridge:HarvardUniversity Press.
Writingand Resistancein PostmodernCapitalism.
New York:FalmerPress. Turner,BryanS., ed. 1990. Theoriesof Modernity and
Barrett,Micheleand AnnePhilips. 1992. Destabilizing Postmodernity.London:Sage.
Theory:Contemporary FeministDebates. Stanford: . 1992. Max Weber:FromHistoryto Modernity.
Stanford UniversityPress. London:Routledge.
Heller,Agnes. 1990. Can ModernitySurvive?Berkeley: Vattimo,Gianni. 1991. TheEnd ofModernity: Nihilism
Universityof CaliforniaPress. and Hermeneutics in Postmodern Culture.Baltimore:
Heller,Agnesand FerencFeher.1988. ThePostmodern JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press.
PoliticalCondition.New York: ColumbiaUniversity White,StephenK. 1991. PoliticalTheoryand Postmod-
Press. ernism.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press.

Revengeof theCrystal:SelectedWritings on theModernObjectand Its

Destiny,1968-1983,by Jean Baudrillard.London:PlutoPress,1990. 198
pp. $47.50 cloth.ISBN: 0-7453-0298-X.$16.95 paper.ISBN:
0-7453-0305-6.
Modernist Radicalismand Its Aftermath: Foundationalismand
Anti-Foundationalism in Radical Social Theory,by StephenCrook. London:
Routledge,1991. 261 pp. $49.95 cloth.ISBN: 0-415-02860-4.$16.95
paper.ISBN: 0-415-06081-8.
Baudrillard:Criticaland Fatal Theory,by Mike Gane. London:Routledge,
1991. 243 pp. $49.95 cloth.ISBN: 0-415-03774-3.$14.95 paper.ISBN:
0-415-03775-1.
Moralityand Modernity, by Ross Poole. London:Routledge,1991. 196 pp.
$59.95 cloth.ISBN: 0-415-03600-3.$14.95 paper.ISBN: 0-415-03601-1.
Postmodernism: The Twilight of theReal, by NevilleWakefield.London:
PlutoPress,1990. 152 pp. $29.95 cloth.ISBN: 0-7453-0341-2.$19.95
paper.ISBN: 0-7453-0471-0.
Social TheoryafterPostmodernism: Rethinking Law and Class,
Production,
by AnthonyWoodiwiss.London:PlutoPress,1990. 205 pp. $34.95 cloth.
ISBN: 0-7453-0387-0.$19.95 paper.ISBN: 0-7453-0472-9.

Out oftheMaze?
Twistsand Riddlesof JORGE ARDITI
Postmodern Thinking University
of California,Berkeley

Postmodernsocial theoryseems to have oreticalspace. Manyenteredit,carvingpaths

createda labyrinthall its own. As long as it in uncertain
directions.Many seem to have
focused on a critique of the theoretical gottenlost.Othersseemto haveconfusedthe
discourseof modernity, the new discourse labyrinth theyhave themselvescreatedwith
was vibrant and persuasive. It severely reality.Stillothershave seen in thelabyrinth
discreditedtwo of the core assumptionsof signsof somebiggertransformation, thevery
modernsocial theory -subject-centered rea- space in whichtheydwell pointingto the
son, and thestability
of meaning(representa- emergence of a larger,postmodern
reality.
tionalism)-and thusopenedunexplored the- The books reviewed here reflect the

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
20 SYMPOSIUM
labyrinthine discourseofpostmodernity. They Woodiwiss, who takes his two starting
make an eclecticlot. One is by Baudrillard positionsas axiomatic,develops a closed
and two, Mike Gane's and Neville Wake- strategy that,quitecontradictorily, bringshim
field's,are based on Baudrillard, bothtaking to claim a privilegedepistemological space
their common source in vastly differentforhimself-andthatrevealssomeonewho
directions. The booksby StephenCrookand has confusedtheexitof thelabyrinth withits
Anthony Woodiwissattempt to developnew verycenter.
ways of theorizingon the premises of The confusionof exitand centerpervades
antifoundationalism (the premisethat there Woodiwiss'sbook. He has a uniqueabilityto
areno ontologicalor epistemological founda- makeself-contradictory statementsthatcan be
tions upon which to develop a universal used to argueanything. This practicecomes
understanding of society),yeteach followsa neatly into view in the very idea of a
unique strategy.Ross Poole discusses the nonrepresentational realism,an idea
scientific
moralfailuresof modernity and comments on thatleads Woodiwissto say suchthingsas:
the possibilitiesof reasserting the ambitions The opportunity represented by theformer
ofmoralphilosophy in thepresentintellectual assertion [thatlinguisticchangeis primarily
andsocialclimate.In spiteoftheirdissimilar- a social matter] may only be taken
ities,however,together thesebooks suggest advantage of properly (that is, non-
new possibilities,new turnsthat perhaps positivistically)in the presence of the
affordnew insightsinto our presentreality. verificational scepticismcentralto scien-
Thereis muchto learnin thesebooks, both tificrealism;thatis, in the presenceof,
positively and negatively. accordingto my variant,its insistenceof
As StephenCrookexplainsin his excellent the mutualirreducibility of discourseand
introduction to Modernist Radicalismand Its all else in theworld,whichmeansthatwe
Aftermath, and as AnthonyWoodiwisspro- can never be even probabilistically sure
claims more than explains in the opening thatwe knowanything (notethatthisdoes
pages of Social TheoryafterPostmodernism, notmeanthatwe cannotknowanything but
the major challengefacing social theorists onlythatwe cannotbe sureto any degree
today involves developing new, positive as to thecorrectness ofwhatwe know).(P.
practices of theorizinggrounded in the 32; emphasisin theoriginal)
primarily reactivetheseslaid bythepostmod-
ern critiqueof modernity. The questionis, Whatwe are supposedto do withthis,I do
howto theorizewhentheveryfoundations of notknow,butit is clearthatit maybe used
the traditional practicesof theorizinghave simultaneously to argue for a privileged
become discredited? To Crook, the answer epistemological positionand to denyit.
involves developing a strategythat will Space does not allow me to go over the
preventanypossiblereversion to foundation- detailsof thebook,butit does notgetmuch
alismyetwill maintainthepositive,emanci- better.It is filledwithmisleading discussions
patoryquality of modernradicalism.For of otherpeople's works,platitudes,and a
Woodiwiss,the answer involves "drawing disturbinghabit of characterizingalmost
out the consequencesof the rejectionof everything thatdoes notfititsowntheoretical
representationalism and humanismfor the model as "undertheorized."Woodiwiss's
activityof theorising as such" (p. 7). Crook reworking of the by-nowvastlydiscredited
proposesto rereadclassicalandcontemporaryantihumanism of Althusser cannotsalvageit.
theorists to analyzetheirspecifictheoretical As incompatible as thetwoprojectsare,the
methodsand thusto identify "themes"fora idea of developinga synthesis of Marx and
renewedradicalism.Woodiwissdefinestwo Foucaultmightwork,butwe wouldnotknow
starting positions-a variantof Althusserian it fromthis book. In part 2, "Rethinking
antihumanism and what he views as an Production,"it seems as if Woodiwisswere
antirepresentationalist version of scientific suggesting to do forproduction whatFoucault
realism-on whose groundshe proposesa did forsexuality-anintriguing idea forsure,
synthesisof Marx and Foucault. Crook although,I suspect,the final resultwould
developsan open-endedstrategy thatleaves seem as mucha synthesis betweenFoucault
readersintrigued by its possibilitiesbut at a and Marx as The Historyof Sexualityis a
loss how his ideas can be put to work. synthesis betweenFoucaultand Mastersand

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 SYMPOSIUM21
Johnson. Forthemostpart,however,Woodi- wonderinghow a strategyof disclosure
wiss's idea of a synthesisconsistsof using actuallycan be practiced.The metatheoretical
Foucault'sconceptof "rulesof formation" as discussionis fine,but as long as it is not
developedin TheArchaeology of Knowledge accompanied byevenan inklingofhowitcan
to "rethinkclass" and to formulate a "new be put to work, it remains just that,
theoryof thelaw." Thattheory, whichto me metatheory. The question,however,is howto
looksmorelikeBourdieuthaneitherFoucault maketheory.
or Marx,is theonlygood thingin thisbook. That is the big virtueof Ross Poole's
For this,however,readersshouldbe referred Moralityand Modernity. Poole is a philoso-
to Woodiwiss'searlierworkson thetopic. pherand his concernis withmoralphiloso-
Woodiwiss'sfinalproductactuallycomes phy,buthispurposeis similartoWoodiwiss's
close to what Crook calls a strategyof andCrook's.How, he asks,can we overcome
closure-in spiteoftheformer's effortsto the the theoreticalfailures of modernityto
contrary.In a succession of well-craftedgeneratea moral philosophythatdoes not
chapters,Crook suggests how theoretical lead to the only coherentmodernmorality:
discourses,modem and postmodernalike, nihilism?The questionis in itselfrefreshing
always revertto foundationalism. His argu- because it locatesNietzschesquarelywithin
mentaboutpostmodern discourseis particu- modernity, wherehe belongs,and makesus
larlyprovocative.We can questionCrook's rethinkour very concept of postmodern
claim thatthe determination of postmodern-discourse.Whatwe usuallycall postmodern
iststo transform contingency and diversity as discoursebecomes,as Crook suggests,one
necessaryfeaturesof the world impliesas side of modernity, trulythemirror imageof
stronga foundationalism as subject-centeredsubject-centered reason.
reason. But his conclusionthatpostmodern Borrowing fromWeber'sconceptof disen-
discourse is the negative image of the chantment, Poole argues that the problem
modernism it contests,and therefore repro- withmodernity is notthatithas destroyed the
duces ratherthan escapes the theorizing groundsforbelievingin a universaltruth, but
strategies of modernsocial theory, is persua- "thatit providesno groundsforbelievingin
sive: relativismand nihilism do indeed its own principlesand values" (p. ix). Like
represent the negativeimage of essentialist Weber,he arguesthatin a worlddominated
discoursesof modernity. Crook's own strat- by instrumental rationality,commitment to a
egyfora revitalized radicalismthusinvolves valuebecomespossibleonlythrough vocation
rejectingboththeimageand its mirror, both or dogmatism.None of the moralphiloso-
of whichare vitiatedby whathe termsthe phies that emergedwith capitalism,Poole
"foundationalist syndrome."His solution? suggests,gave people a good reasonto take
Read the classics to develop "themes"that them seriously.Neitherdid the different
mightmakepossiblediscussionsaboutfoun- responsesto modernity, except for Nietz-
dationsthatwouldnotbe "foundationalist." sche's nihilism,which,however,according
This is to be achievedby developinga to Poole, is "quite literallymad" (p. xi).
theoreticalstrategyof "disclosure,"as op- Poole's greatvirtueis to searchfora renewed
posedto a strategy of "closure."Strategies of sense of moralityand find it not, like
closure insist that foundationalquestions MacIntyre,in a retreatto premodernity or,
admitof definitive answers,thataddressing like Habermas,in a return to thedisenchant-
thesequestionsprecedeinquiry,and thatthe ingprogramof theEnlightenment, butin the
possibility of inquiry depend on successful futures
alternative embedded in the present,
foundation. Strategiesof disclosure,by con- firstandforemost in themoraldiscoursesand
trast, are characterizedby three "major practicesof feminism and theirsupersession
resources",:"a 'relational'account of the of instrumental rationalaction.
constitution of analyticobjects, an 'ironic' Whatstillallows us to speakof a genuine
conceptionof causality,and the idea of a postmodern discourse,however,is thesuspi-
'critical rhetoric'" (p. 20). Crook insists cionthattheemergence of thelabyrinth itself
repeatedlythat his intentionsare purely is tiedto somefundamental transformation in
metatheoretical andthatto engagein substan- theway we are in theworld,its verytwists
tive inquirywould in fact contradictthe representing theefforts to inventa language
argumentof the book. But I cannothelp capable of making sense of the new,

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22 SYMPOSIUM
postmodern reality.Accordingto thisview, Baudrillard's answeris to developa "fatal"
the absence of stable meaningsand fixed strategy,a virtualwarfareagainstcompla-
coordinatesof value, as the concomitant cency and the entrapmentof the sign,
"decentering" of the subject,are conditions derived,Gane suggests,fromthefundamental
of postmodernity aloneand shouldneither be force at work in the premodernworld of
subsumedundera different realitynortaken symbolic exchange: seduction. Seduction
as universalconditions of being. involvesnot power but the masteryof the
As the excellent collection of articles symbolic.It entailsa strategy of appearances,
Revengeof theCrystalreveals,muchof the ofcruelty, of symbolicandphysicalviolence,
beautyand appealof Baudrillard's readingof and its utmostsuccess,or so it would seem,
the presentlies preciselyin its abilityto involvesrape. To seduce,to be treatedas an
formulate a vision of the specificity of the object,to abuse and to be abusedare indeed
postmodern. To Baudrillard, whatcharacter- its "majorprivileges."Baudrillard takesthis
izes our period is not disenchantment, the idea so faras to scoldfeminists forrefusingto
inabilityto give meaningto the real (a be raped,since,he claims,in theirattempt to
condition thatincidentally leadsto existential- emulatethemasculine(read,power),women
ism, not to postmodernism), but the emer- denythemselves"thesole forcethatis equal
gence of a new field and a new logic of and superiorto all others"(quotedin Gane,
practice,a transformation in the verynature p. 147).
of the real. To him, the materialityof Seductionmightworkas a strategy against
productionand the logic of capital are no complacency,but I am not sure how much
longerat therootof social reality.Withthe discussionan idea like the above deserves.
transformations in technology and the grow- Gane does a wonderful job explainingBaud-
ing importance of information systems,with rillard's fatal theory(which is admittedly
theexplosivereproduction of signsand their more complex than my short exposition
penetration intotheminutiae ofeveryday life, allows),yethe failsto makea case fortaking
it is nowtheimmateriality ofthesignandthe it seriously.Reading Gane's book might,
economyof self-referential signsystems-the paradoxically, convinceus of whywe should
logic of semioticcodes thatdo notrepresent notcare aboutBaudrillard anymore.
anythingoutside their own reality-that NevilleWakefield'sPostmodernism, byfar
constitutethe fundamental field of social thebest of thesebooks, suggestsotherwise.
practice. Wakefieldacceptsthe core of Baudrillard's
To Baudrillard,the consequencesof this depictionof the postmodern-especially the
transformation have been, to use his own idea thattheeconomyof thesignhas become
word,catastrophic. Devoid of depth,reality overpowering-yetdisagreeswithhis solu-
has become,literally, superficial-apositiv- tion to the ills of postmodernity. To him,
itymadeof puresimulacrain whichpeople's Baudrillard'sattemptto resist complacent
experiencesare grounded in the spatial nihilismthrougha returnto the past was
interconnectedness of signs ratherthan the probablyhis greatestmistake.Instead, he
temporal successionof acts. The end resultis urgesus toembracepostmodernity andtofind
something like structured, complacentnihil- withinits confinesan affirmation of our
ism, a social worldin whichnihilismis no changedsubjectivity.
longer a Nietzscheanchoice, the reverse Wakefield'sreviewofthemajortheoretical
imageofethics,buttheconstituted specificity statements on the postmodernis masterly,
ofpostmodern subjects.As MikeGane shows probablythebestI have seento date,andhis
in Baudrillard:Criticaland Fatal Theory,it analysisof how all thesestatements, includ-
is a common misconceptionto see in ing Baudrillard's,fall prey to the same
Baudrillard'soeuvre a total affirmation of nostalgiatheycriticizeis illuminating. Baud-
nihilism.Quitethecontrary, Gane argues;for rillard's inabilityto avoid comparingthe
Baudrillardthefundamental questionis how presentwithan idealizedpast, accordingto
to resist the complacencyof postmodern Wakefield,exemplifies a movethatshiftsthe
nihilism,how, giventhepresentconstitutiongroundsof analysisaway fromthe present
of the world, to develop a strategyof and automaticallydistortsit. In contrast,
oppositionto what he sees as an obscene Wakefieldfindsin Deleuze and Guattari's
perversion of life. in theircelebration
ideas on schizophrenia, of

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 SYMPOSIUM 23
the "schizophrenic's creativeand revolution- Butnoneofthisshouldobscurethisbook's
ary capacityto resistthe encodedflows of verysubstantial achievements.Two sugges-
desire"in particular (p. 95), an expressionof tions,althoughneverexplicitlystated,seem
whathe believesis an undistorted image of to me to be particularly powerful.First,
postmodemsubjectivity. This image, how- Wakefield suggests that the critique of
ever, is equally problematic,because the subject-centered reason does not signal the
underlying notionof a decentered subjectis death of the subject but points to the
definedin reactiveterms.It is the mirror possibility ofchanging subjectivities.
Postmo-
imageof a so-calledcenteredsubject.By his dernity,in otherwords, impliesthe emer-
own standards, then,Wakefield'ssolutionis genceof a new,different subjectas a resultof
questionable,and the book rests on even the changed conditionsof life duringthe
shakiergroundwhenit turnsto theempirical secondhalfof thetwentieth century. Second,
world. One frequently remarkedirony of thecritiqueofrepresentation does notindicate
postmodernism is thatit is a mostlyEuropean theend of meaningbutraisesthepossibility
theoryabout mostlyAmericanthings.This of different modalitiesof meaning.(This, of
bookis no exception.Wakefield'sanalysisof course,is the idea at thecore of Foucault's
DisneyWorld,forexample,is forthe most earlywork.)Postmodernity involvesa trans-
part beside the point. The suggestionthat formation of cognitiveboundariesand of the
Disney Worldis a perfectrepresentation of waysin whichtheseareconstituted inthefirst
America,and thatforAmericanstheexperi- place. A better-grounded empiricalanalysis
ence of it entailsa restoration of faithin the of thesetransformationsmightfinallyputthe
real,is, to say theleast,morethanshaky. studyof postmodernity on therightpath.

WhatCan She Know?FeministTheoryand theConstruction ofKnowledge,

Press,1991. 349 pp. $42.50
by Lorraine Code. Ithaca:CornellUniversity
cloth.ISBN: 0-8014-2476-3.$14.95 paper.ISBN: 0-8014-9720-5.
FeministMethodsin Social Research,by ShulamitReinharz,withLynn
Davidman. New York:OxfordUniversity Press,1992. 413 pp. $39.95
cloth.ISBN: 0-19-507385-1.$19.95 paper.ISBN: 0-19-507386-X.

L. PRESS
ANDREA
FeministMethodology? of Communication
Department
A Reassessment University
ofMichigan

In the "Gender,Culture,Power" sessionat discussedwere very interesting. The panel

the recentASA meetingsin Pittsburgh, the neverthelesscrystallizeda continuing paradox
workof theone manon thepaneldominated in the social sciences in general, and
discussion by a group which, ironically, sociologyquiteparticularly. Feministtheory,
featuredDorothySmith, grande dame of andfeminist research,continueto be margin-
feministsociology and best known for alized and effectively silenced(in "mixed"
repeatedly notingtheabsenceof womenand company at least) in most areas of our
theirconcernsin conventionalsociological discipline.Although on one levelthefeminist
theoryand research.The feministchallenges ghettoesare "flourishing"-inthesensethat
to culturaltheorywhich Smith raised in certainjobs are earmarked forfeminist work
theoreticalformwere silencedas the group and certainpublicationstargetthe feminist
to thatman'swork, contribution-they
addresseditselfprimarily remain ghettoes.When
more accessible to the group and perhaps theopportunity forintegration comesup, as at
morecomfortable forpublicdiscussionin a the "Gender, Culture,Power" panel, dia-
"mixed" environment of thoseinterestedin logue falters.Whilefeminist sociologistsare
feministtheoryand thosenotso inclined. beginningto findtheirvoice internally, the
No one's fault.Certainlythe discussion, "feministrevolution" is stillessentially
miss-
pattern,
despiteits unfortunate and thework ing fromsociology,a situationunchanged

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