走出“现代”之门:后现代社会学的兴起及其影响

The Rise and Influence of Post - Modern Sociology

作为一种当代的社会文化思潮,后现代理论的兴起是现代性成长的必然产物,它是伴随着现代社会危机的出现,并对其进行深刻的分析和批判的结果。尽管后现代理论在社会学的建树中有明显的不足,但后现代的理论方法在社会学中还是直接导致了一种“后现代社会学”研究范式的诞生。而且,与以往现代社会学的研究相比,后现代社会学在思维方式、研究范式和目标取向上都表现出了不同的风格与特征,并对社会学的未来发展产生难以估量的影响。

The post - modern ideas first appeared in arts and architecture, and then spread to the study of popular culture and developed most fully in philosophy. However, they are now becoming increasingly influential in social sciences, especially in sociology. The post - modern sociology argues that sociologists have to recognize diversities of the social world and develop fresh concepts and a new theoreti- cal framework to grasp the essence of the new age, if it wants to understand the historical transformation brought about by post - modernity and to offer theoretical explanations of this new age. It attempts to attack and subvert the modern sociological system from a critical point of view, raises some important questions , and requires a reexamination of some key ideas. It reminds us that there is no right way of thinking about human societies. The diverse nature of social life and the precarious authority of sociological knowledge mean that sociologists can never be certain about any aspect of social life.