TOWARD A MULTICULTURAL SOCIOLOGY: BRINGING POSTMODERNISM INTO THE CLASSROOM.

In this paper I argue that any serious attempt to move sociology toward a viable multiculturalism will require an interrogation of the fundamental and historical forces at work in Western epistemological traditions. I focus on two such major historical forces: the Platonic subject/object separation and Judaeo-Christian theology. I argue that postmodern criticism is of great utility in furthering this interrogation, and I criticize some of the simplistic caricatures of postmodernism promoted by its opponents. The second half of the paper is a detailed description of pedagogical strategies that are designed to make these issues available to undergraduate students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]