The 6 differences between modernity and postmodernity

Modernity and postmodernity are concepts that we use especially in the humanities and social sciences and that have served to understand some characteristics of our societies as well as the transformations through which we have past.

They are frequently concepts that are used as opposites or as a way of explaining the transition from one historical period to another, however, modernity and postmodernity refer to elements that coexist, that are very complex and cannot be understood separately.

Taking this into consideration we will explain in very broad strokes some relationships and differences between modernity and postmodernity.

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A change of time?

In very general terms, modernity is the period that begins between the fifteenth century and the eighteenth century in Western societies, from social, scientific, economic and political transformations.

For its part, postmodernity refers to the second half of the 20th century, and

It is also known as “late modernity”, “postmodern era” or even “postmodernity-in-modernity”, precisely because the time limits between one and the other are not fixed or determined.

The term postmodernity is not synonymous with antimodernity, and the prefix "post" does not only refer to something that comes "after", but it is a concept that has served to reveal theoretical and political movements that had begun in the modernity.

That's why, one of the great theorists of postmodernity, Jean-François Lyotard, defines it as a “rewrite of modernity”. In other words, postmodernity is not so much a new era, as the development and updating of the projects that modernity had begun.

6 differences between modernity and postmodernity

Modernity and postmodernity are stages that cannot be understood as independent or opposed, but rather as a set of social, political, economic, and scientific events.

In other words, the differences that we will see below they do not mean that there has been a complete transition from one paradigm to another, but that constant transformations have occurred in different areas of social life.

1. The scientific paradigm and the question of the subject

During modernity, man was constituted as a subject. That is, everything is understood with reference to it, including nature and human activity in general. Therefore, the basic question for modern philosophical and scientific knowledge is what is being?

On the other hand, postmodernity is characterized by "the death of the subject", because knowledge is no longer centered on the human being, and truth is no longer considered a universal reality, but a constant unveiling. Thus, the basic question for philosophy and science is no longer what is being, but how can I know it?

Science in postmodernity is done in a transdisciplinary way, rejecting deterministic materialism, and integrates into society through the development of technology. Likewise, an attempt is made to get out of the opposites such as mind, body, man-woman.

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2. getting sick is not so bad

During modernity, the body is understood as an isolated object, separated from the mind and composed mainly of atoms and molecules, with which diseases are understood as the malfunction of these molecules, and its cure depends exclusively on the doctor and the drugs.

In postmodernity, the body is no longer understood as an isolated object, but in connection with the mind and with the context, with which health is not only the absence of disease but a balance that depends to a large extent on each individual. The disease is then a language of the body and has certain purposes, that is, a more positive meaning is attributed to it.

3. From rigidity to educational flexibility

In the field of formal education, the most representative paradigm shift is that the educational task is no longer focused on the activities of the educator, but rather the student is given a more active role and collaborative work is reinforced.

Education stops promoting rigid norms and is committed to the goal of forming integral people and united both to nature and to the community. It goes from being completely rational to being rational and intuitive, as well as from rigidity to flexibility and from hierarchy to participation.

This same has repercussions on parenting styles, parents stop being authoritarian to be more flexible, open to negotiation and sometimes very permissive.

4. The failure of authoritarian systems

The political terrain is characterized by promoting a move away from the authoritarian and institutional system towards a consensual system and non-governmental networks. Thus, the political power that was previously centralized becomes decentralized and develops ideals of social cooperation.

For example, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) emerge and new political values ​​are sought. Likewise, politics is strongly marked by globalization, a paradigm that promotes global thinking with local actions and that tries to reduce the borders between nations. However, globalization also becomes an update of the inequalities promoted by modern colonialism.

5. the global economy

In relation to the above, the economy goes from being local to being global. However, although in postmodernity the great economic spaces are sought, the societies reinforce regionalism and tend to return to small forms of economic organization and policy.

There is a change in the domain of capital that promotes consumer lifestyles, to promote a quality of responsible consumption. In addition, the work ceases to be linked only to the obligation and begins to link with personal development.

The masculinization of the labor sector is revealed and collective responsibilities that build team relationships and not simply work relationships are promoted. The development of technology is one of the protagonists of the ideals of progress. It is about giving the economy a humanist transformation that allows other types of coexistence.

6. Community and Diverse Families

Socially there is an exaltation of ecological values ​​that were previously purely material. If in modernity the ties were more contractual, in postmodernity the creation of community ties is reinforced.

The same happens in the field of customs and traditions, which were rigid before and now become very flexible. It is about integrating thought with feeling, an issue that had been separated during modernity.

On the other hand, family values ​​are promoted that go from encouraging large families to insisting on birth control. There is greater flexibility in couples, who are no longer focused on building a relationship with one person for life. Likewise, the traditional family is transformed, it is no longer focused on relationships of two, nor only between heterosexual people.

Bibliographic references

• Zeraoui, Z. (2000). Modernity and postmodernity: the crisis of paradigms and values. Noriega: Mexico, D.F.
• Amengual, G. (1998). Modernity and crisis of the subject. Caparros: Madrid.
• Roa, a. (1995). Modernity and postmodernity: coincidences and fundamental differences. Editorial Andrés Bello: Santiago de Chile.