This authoritative and revealing book provides the first sociological examination of postmodernism. Lash examines the differences between modernism and postmodernism, providing a clear explanation of why postmodernism is important.

Contents. Introduction. 1. Postmodernism: Towards a Sociological Account Part I Postmodernism and Social Theory 2. Genealogy and the Body 3. Postmodernity and Desire 4. Communicative Rationality and Desire 5. Modernity or Modernism: Weber and Contemporary Social Theory Part II Postmodernist Culture 6. Critical Theory and Postmodernist Culture: The Eclipse of Aura 7. Discourse of Figure: Postmodernism as a Regime of Signification Part III Modernism and Post Modernism: Social Correlates 8. Modernism and Bourgeois Identity: Paris/Vienna/Berlin 9. Modernization and Postmodernisation in the work of Pierre Bourdieu