A postmodernist study of the internet

This paper argues is that the activities associated with the Internet are organisational and societal activities taking place within a given historical context. As such explanations of these activities can profit from sociological theories such as postmodernism which can be seen as a reaction to som...

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Main Author: S.H. Heng
Format: Article
Published: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 1998
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4163/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4163/
id ukm-4163
recordtype eprints
spelling ukm-41632012-05-23T04:51:10Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4163/ A postmodernist study of the internet S.H. Heng, This paper argues is that the activities associated with the Internet are organisational and societal activities taking place within a given historical context. As such explanations of these activities can profit from sociological theories such as postmodernism which can be seen as a reaction to some signal failures of modernism and the modernity project. Postmodernist thinking reflects both a sense of imposing crisis and a feeling that the modernist system of ideas no longer suffices. The sacrosanct notion of the privileged role of the enlightenment, rationality and reason has lost credibility. It is very much a socio-cultural and philosophical system of thoughts which sprouts in a post-industrial society. The relevant elements of postmodernism used here are: (a) power is diffuse, (b) there is no grand theory to make sense of reality; (c) the world is fragmented and chaotic, (d) information technology has an ambivalent character. It is argued that postmodernism offers a fruitful way of understanding and explaining the range of possibilities and challenges that accompany the advent of the Internet. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 1998-07 Article PeerReviewed S.H. Heng, (1998) A postmodernist study of the internet. AKADEMIKA, 53 . pp. 113-127. ISSN 0126-5008 http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/penerbit/jdem53-7.htm
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper argues is that the activities associated with the Internet are organisational and societal activities taking place within a given historical context. As such explanations of these activities can profit from sociological theories such as postmodernism which can be seen as a reaction to some signal failures of modernism and the modernity project. Postmodernist thinking reflects both a sense of imposing crisis and a feeling that the modernist system of ideas no longer suffices. The sacrosanct notion of the privileged role of the enlightenment, rationality and reason has lost credibility. It is very much a socio-cultural and philosophical system of thoughts which sprouts in a post-industrial society. The relevant elements of postmodernism used here are: (a) power is diffuse, (b) there is no grand theory to make sense of reality; (c) the world is fragmented and chaotic, (d) information technology has an ambivalent character. It is argued that postmodernism offers a fruitful way of understanding and explaining the range of possibilities and challenges that accompany the advent of the Internet.
format Article
author S.H. Heng,
spellingShingle S.H. Heng,
A postmodernist study of the internet
author_facet S.H. Heng,
author_sort S.H. Heng,
title A postmodernist study of the internet
title_short A postmodernist study of the internet
title_full A postmodernist study of the internet
title_fullStr A postmodernist study of the internet
title_full_unstemmed A postmodernist study of the internet
title_sort postmodernist study of the internet
publisher Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate 1998
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4163/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4163/
first_indexed 2023-09-18T19:40:47Z
last_indexed 2023-09-18T19:40:47Z
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