Travis' Question

First, I would like to start off by saying that I enjoyed reading Bryan Taylor’s piece on postmodernism. Not only did it deepen my understanding of the topic, which every time I explore becomes clearer and more convoluted at the same time, but it added to my quiver of lenses which to view postmodernity as well as modernity. My question this week is in relation to modernism and postmodernism as binaries, or how they should not be categorized as binaries, but more as a ying-yang symbol that are separate, swirling, and still attached. Taylor writes, “Although the relationship between modernity and postmodernity is often cast as a dichotomy, this image is not helpful. It implies that each entity is independent and monolithic, when in fact both are marked by contingency and variety” (p. 115).

For example, although socially we may have moved into a postmodern world there are still organizations that find value in centralizing power which is a more modernist ideology. This is opposed to a postmodern view of organizational power that sees it more laterally.

Where, in our own research, scholarship, and pedagogy, can we see modernity and postmodernity operating together?