Theories of INEQUALITY: POSTMODERNISM

Sociological explanations of inequality by Functionalists and Marxists are based on their overall views of the structure of society. Postmodernists reject such approaches because they are critical of 'metanarratives' - big theories that aim to explain everything. Instead, they argue that the modern society is fragmented and inequality has an individual meaning. Some Postmodern writers such as Jameson have sympathy with the Marxist theory and argue that divisions in society are a product of 'late capitalism' but cannot be explained by economic divisions alone.

Lyotard says that social clas, inequality, gender and other social categories are things from the modern period and from traditional theory, that are no longer meaningful because no groups/societies share common norms/values, as Functionalists believe. He discusses the way that consumer society and the choice of material goods advertised in the media make individuals feel unequal because they lack things tha others appear to have. He claims there is no single truth to society, no right or wrong.

Traditional Modernist…