It has become an intellectual commonplace to claim that we have entered the era
of'postmodernity'. Three themes are embraced in this claim the poststructurist critique by
Foucault, Derrida and others of the philosophical heritage of the Enlightenment the
supposed impasse of High Modern art and its replacement by new artistic forms and the
alleged emergence of'post-industrial'societies whose structures are beyond the ken of Marx
and other theorists of industrial capitalism. Against Postmodernism takes issue with all these …

This book can be recommended to anyone interested in the debate regarding
postmodernism. In Chapter 1 Callinicos argues that postmodernism must be seen as a
continuation of the modernist revolution, rather than as a radical rupture. In Chapter 2 he
traces modernism back to the experienc~ s of urban life and industrial development brought
about by capitalism. The topic ofchapter 3 is the poststructuralist thinkers typically associated
with postmodernism-Derrida and Foucault especially. In Callinicos's view these authors …