Postmodernism as the Cultural Skin of Late Capitalism: Mapping and the Educational Challenge.

This paper asks whether postmodernist thought is helpful or harmful to education. It critiques postmodernist theory in both a favorable and critical light and studies the phenomenon within the context of historical and contemporary socioeconomic, cultural, and political developments. The author argues that postmodernism is best understood in relation to its material base. The hypothesis is that postmodernism is best understood as the cultural skin (or superstructural manifestations) of the economic dynamics of late capitalism. Finally, because the greatest threat to a genuine democratic project, including education, is capitalism's direct and hegemonic power, any theory and practice of liberatory progressive education must be conducted within an anticapitalist framework. A conclusion is that the contributions of postmodernist thought to intramural education practice and theory deserve fairly good grades. However, because capitalism is the greatest threat to bona fide democracy, postmodernist though cannot be endorsed as an overall ally of liberative praxis and transformative politics. (LMI)