Postmodern
This is a societal state and collection of changes that occurred after modernity. Postmodern occurrences are dated roughly between the seventeenth and the nineteenth century. Many doctrines which relate to the postmodern development aspects are contrary to various philosophical elements. From a philosophical viewpoint, there is an objective natural reality, and this reality is not dependent on human beings. On the contrary, postmodern scholar insists that this is naïve realism and a component of scientific practice. Another philosophical point of view is that research outcomes from scientists and other scholars could either be true or false. However, postmodernists insist that there is no truth. The general belief of philosophy is that the life of human beings will change for better, given the extensive development of science and technology. On the contrary, postmodernists argue against this enlightenment by stating that the development of science and technology has led to various challenges, including the destruction and oppression of World War Two.
Critical Theory
This is a distinctive theoretical aspect that provides a widespread means of illustrating and understanding social reality. It is not guided by the full range of political and ethical norms which it seeks to implement into the world, but by the capability to grasp individualistic and social life aspects and all the processes that are constituted of. In other words, it is a social criticism, which is made up of judgmental viewpoints, transformation, and evaluative activities. In a bid to understand critical knowledge, it is vital to understand the critique. And it is a distinctive form of education, which is usually opposed to the typical and positivist models of knowledge. In other words, it is not a simple act of judgment, but a clear and precise manner of relating to the world. Critical theory is a means of connecting to daily life perceptions but with a piece of more extensive and rational knowledge.
Chinese worldview
During the initial stages of the Zhou Dynasty, there were various classical Chinese texts, concerning the worldview, that were compiled. These texts were implemented into the education system of China, and they worked within the education for hundreds of years. According to the ontology of Yijing, nature does not mean the immaterial component that differentiates something from another. But, it is the substance of nature correlation that makes something real and differentiates it from the relationship of other things. According to the chronicles of Zou, the world is made up of six primary natural resources, which are grains, earth, wood, water, fire, and metal. According to the Chinese worldview, the heavens order reality. Therefore, if human beings do not behave in a highly recommendable manner, they could disrupt the harmonious process of the earth, which could result in various challenges (Disorder in nature and illnesses.
The bias of social science
The secularized Judeo-Christian-based Western society’s social and philosophical biases are ingrained in all social science, including communication. The concept of globalization has recurrent debates since the early sixties; however, there has been a minimal success due to the oligopoly of social sciences. To be more precise, communication science has ignored the globalization debate, especially from non-Western cosmologies. Most theoretical explanations of globalization are mostly based on literature from Europe and North America. As a result, there is a growing body of critics and studies focused on finding out more about this one-way biasness of the globalization literature. The prevalent social science that illustrates humanistic behaviors was implemented into the developing world by the oligopoly of the imperial masters. Despite that, it faces an internal challenge of Orientalism, Eurocentrism, intellectual imperialism, to name a few. Consequently, the cultural bias concepts of modernization have reappeared in the globalization debate.
Part Two
- According to a wide range of social scientists, the ‘Clash of epochs’ is the main form of conflict in the current world. To be more precise, the ‘Clash of epochs’ is a form of conflict in traditional society, modernity, and postmodernity. It is the primary factor that has led to the west being torn apart, thereby making it unable to withstand challenges are that are emerging recurrently. The internal difficulties in Western societies can be related to the implementation of multicultural practices, which are primarily brought about by postmodernity. To be sure, the aspects of multi-culture are relatable to the collective representation of a wide range of ethnic groups. However, what is even more important is the commitment to the virtues and regulations of co-existing cultures. It should add substantial value to heterogeneity and diversity rather than homogeneity and unity to ensure the reconciliation of the ‘Clash of epochs.’ The danger of promoting multicultural practices without strategic guidelines is that it eliminates the prior national unity culture, and divides populations into cultural groups which have distinctive features. On the one hand, Western society has reduced the traditional national unity and replaced it with cultural diversity. On the other hand, sovereignty has been replaced with globalization. And this means that the west has caused self-destruction, which has allowed penetration into their markets and financial systems. Despite the impacts of the ‘Clash of epochs,’ there are factors that could lead to potential reconciliation. That is, the Western world can reconstruct the civilization process. This means there will be a rediscovery of all the fundamental values found in intellectual beliefs and traditional morals. This does not mean implementing practices from the past; however, it is a creative and strategic restructuring that will foster an evolutionary epoch, which would become more reliable than the modernity and postmodernity.
- The intent and significance of de-familiarization in indigenous thought are to enable them to develop their social life and make them as competent and capable as their majority counterparts. First of all, the indigenous population always conducted research. In that, they have mobilized all relevant sources of information to find answers to their concerns. What is more, in recent times, a large part of the indigenous population has moved from their communities into academic educational institutions. This has been a challenge to the colonial institutional relations, mostly perceiving the indigenous people as research subjects, rather than recognizing their cultural practices, being and doing. Indigenous research studies are taking place in multiple forums, which are located in both educational and indigenous communities. However, various challenges impact this process. To be more precise, the implementation of standardized protocols and regulations are barriers to indigenous communities’ accessibility for research purposes. However, other studies must constantly be raising concern on such critical issues, including social science aspects that are in the mainstream, and the moral that involve the need to have their research prioritized by the government and other responsible institutions. The unequal coexistence between non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples is based on the radically unequal context of colonialism. However, the current social science studies emphasize that the indigenous populations are just as crucial as other citizens. Therefore, nations should foster democracy and equality irrespective of ethnicity, background, race, or gender.
- According to social science research, feminist has a different meaning that is often debated. On the one hand, some scholars believe it is a political movement that resulted in the United States. On the other hand, others use woman’s empowering term as a response to the gender-related challenges. Social science research is feminist because it has been linked to the activism of women from the late nineteenth century to the current moment. Now, social science has been beneficial in differentiating feminist ideas from feminist political movements. This is important because, even if there has been no significant legislative motion against women’s subordination, a wide range of scholars and other concerned people have addressed it for women within the theoretical frameworks. In the mid-eighties, the society defined feminism as the quality of females. Later in 1892, the meaning changed to equality for women. Of course, feminism came as a result of mobilization due to the challenges and suffrage that women in Europe and America faced, especially from the late nineteenth century through to the early twentieth century. Despite that, some social scientists insist that identifying feminism with specific revolutions and political movements conceals the fact that there has been a prevalent resistance to male domination. This act is known as feminism. Besides, when considering recent feminist changes against male domination, they all focused on mainstream politics. They ignored resistance from other minority populations such as the average working-class and African American women. As a solution to this limitation, social scientists advocate for the identification of feminism as collective beliefs and ideologies rather than participation in various political movements or demonstrations. On the one hand, social science fosters equal social well-being; on the other hand, social scientists work to eliminate gender stereotyping. And this is important for feminism since it fights for the rights of women.
- First of all, is the Pan-structural epistemology. And its theoretical explanations were developed considering the Chinese viewpoint. And this is because the basic comprehension was established in the ancient China communities. Now, this is a basic model, and it comes from the combination of two models; that is, the external world and the human mind. And it is there developed by Chinese philosophers from six dynasties ear and the neo-Confucian era. Also, frameworks of perception and comprehension were later developed in the nineteenth and twentieth century. There are other structural epistemology categories by Chinese scientists; however, Zhang Dongsun’s work has offered the most significant contribution to the development of structural epistemology. He was the founder of pan-structural epistemology. In terms of intellectual development, Zhang created the connection between the Euro-American theoretical perspectives with the structural aspects of comprehension that were primarily developed by the traditional Chinese thought. Of course, the reality could be explained by the Western theory of substance; however, the Chinese also provided a reasonable explanation for the epistemological basis of structuralism. The pan-structural epistemology does not justify the basis of existence; but, it postulates the only form of existence, which is usually perceived by the human mind. It is a system of interrelationships, which connect various factors that cannot function independently. Therefore, this structure is dynamic and can only work in the process of constant change, with time and space being the most critical factor. Within the Chinese epistemological structure, there is no nature of the substance, and this means it argues against the ontological states for objects. This though is important because it synthesizes the Euro-American though the Chinese tradition. All in all, the an-structural epistemology is a basic model, and it comes from the combination of two models; that is, the external world and the human mind.
- The democratic experiences in India pose a significant threat to the political theory and the well-being of Indians. After a wide range of social research studies was carried out in India, it seemed like some of the most critical pre-conditions to this challenge were literacy and relative homogeneity in the great cultural and ethnic composition. Despite all, that none of these conditions have been achieved in India. Today, some scholars insist that social science’s success is visible in the broad participation in the election process, which has enabled a large population of minorities to have political powers within the regional level. This is partly true; however, the minority populations still face countless social challenges. To be more precise, Indian citizens living in the margins of the state usually experience recurrent violence from the law enforcement personnel, in the name of national security maintenance. Also, their homes and basic needs have been destroyed due to the rapid construction and development of commercial enterprises. These initiatives for development have increased social challenges because they have stripped the minority Indians the right to use their resources. India is widely recognized as a democratic nation; however, the prevalence of these challenges indicates the problematic issues within the country. As a solution, social science insists that human rights and equality should be prioritized, irrespective of race, ethnicity, or gender. Researchers in India are consistently working on finding a balance between this need of immediacy with proficient explorations of the complex interrelation between social science and political equality all over the nation. A critical factor from social science studies is that they prioritize factors that require policy analysis. The prevalent social challenges have also led to the establishment of multiple departments of more applied sociology; for instance, studies on social stratification and social mobility of certain minority groups.
- Eastern modernization is fundamental for post-west social science. Therefore it is crucial to discuss eastern modernization because it has not been a priority for many studies in recent centuries. On the other hand, there are countless aspects of modernization in the western region. Therefore, this leads to the idea that eastern modernization is made up of ideologies, which enrich the debate on post-western social science. Though mostly considered different, there are various reasons why the western and eastern modernizations are closely linked. First of all, the east is like a counter model of the west; in that, the east has provided many representations to the west; as a result, they look at themselves as people from the west. Besides, the east was always viewed as a poor land, which did not have the ability for modern development. This perception is an example of the orientalism of western society. However, the current events in East Asia and the consistently developing China have enabled the ability to challenge the orientalism of the west. In the logic of an old classical theory, the latter is mostly linked to the western society; for instance, the Greek and Romans, who evolved through a renaissance, enlightenment, industrial revolution, and modernization. In other words, the western regions are closely associated with economic development, democracy, and social freedom. On the other hand, the eastern part is usually characterized by a society based on family values and underdevelopment. Despite that, the economic success of various countries from the east has enabled the theoretical development of eastern modernization. In a period that is less than a generation, counties like Singapore and Taiwan have developed to become the newly industrialized nations. And what is even more interesting is that these nations from the east have achieved a substantial economic growth level, which took Europe and America about a century to complete.
References
Comparative Philosophy: Chinese and Western. 2014. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (ROR) https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/comparphil-chiwes/
Feminist Philosophy. 2018.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (ROR)https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminist-philosophy/
Gunarante, Shelton, A. 2009. GLOBALIZATION – A NON-WESTERN PERSPECTIVE. The bias of social science/communication oligopoly. (ROR via YULs))https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227751388_Globalization_A_Non-Western_Perspective_The_Bias_of_Social_ScienceCommunication_Oligopoly
Korab-Karpowicz, Julian. 2019. The Clash of Epochs: Traditional, Modern, Postmodern, AndEvolutionity(ROR)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10457097.2019.1576435?instName=York+University
Li, Peilin. 2015.Eastern Modernization and Chinese Experience (ROR)https://journals.openedition.org/socio/1892
Randeria, Veena Das et Shalini. 2015. Social sciences and public debates: The case of India. (ROR)https://journals.openedition.org/socio/1915
Reddekop, Jarrad. 2014. Thinking Across Worlds: Indigenous Thought, RelationalOntology, and the Politics of Nature; Or, If Only Nietzsche Could Meet AYachaj.(ROR) https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3410&context=etd