IV. Postmodern Theorists and Research

Jean-Francois Lyotard

Lyotard argued against the grand narratives where reason and justice are defined and practiced. He advocated for a combination of micro narratives, based on his theory that each person lives within several micro narratives. Each of these micro narratives has its own notion of justice based on the rules and beliefs found in them. Therefore justice cannot be applied universally; instead a multiplicity of justices exists and should be honored and respected.

Lyotard also believed in developing a more tangible justice. In order to accomplish this, temporary contracts should be implemented instead of relying on precedence and old contracts. Consensus should only be strived for in the micro narratives. Justice needs to be continuously reexamined and boundaries must always be questioned, instead of relying on grounding justice with rationale that inhibits justice from progressing. Lastly, Lyotard believed in the importance of listening to others and celebrating diversity.

- “Let us wage war on totality. . . . [E]very one of us belongs to several minorities, and what is important, none of these prevail. It is only then that we can say that the society is just”- Jean-Francois Lyotard (1988)

Jacques Derrida

Much of Derrida’s work focused on the concept that any foundations created by reasoning, logic, or rational can be deconstructed to show that those groundings are illusory. In other words, no truth is preordained, universal, natural, or given to us by a higher power. Each person is responsible for his or her ethical and moral decisions. For example, Derrida criticizes the Declaration of Independence for being a fictional creation based on illusion.

- “Justice is an experience of the impossible” - Jacques Derrida (1989)

Richard Rorty

A pragmatic, Rorty believed that principles of justice vary cross-culturally. Rorty focused on every day behavior, activities, and struggles to seek understanding from the ground up. His vision of a just political economy was governmentally controlled capitalism plus a welfare state. Within the justice system, he criticized justices for deciding cases based on bad faith and selfish reasoning. But he also acknowledges what he terms "leaps in the dark", where justices decided cases on good faith and made truly just changes.

- “We must start from where we are” – Richard Rorty (1989)

Gilles Deleuze

Deleuze believed rights don’t inherently exist, and humans must create rights through laws. These rights created within institutions and social structures must maximize critical freedoms. In order to accomplish this, we must “deterritorize” and challenge the fixed structures that exist. His notion of justices is centered on maximizing opportunities for others, exploring alternate experiences and understandings, and to engage in transformations.

Drucilla Cornell

A postmodern feminist, she challenged male centered standards of justice. Like most postmodern feminists, she advocates for equivalent evaluation where women are included in the moral community of persons and are treated equitably whenever sexual difference needs to be taken into account.

Postmodern Marxists and Neo-Marixists

Argues that traditional Marxists principles need to be revised given the increase of globalization. Postmodern Marxists and Neo-Marxists are largely concerned with the inequalities in developing countries. In a postmodern Marxist framework, the notion of a mode of information is highlighted instead of the mode of production. This places a large emphasis on the importance that information can play in uniting countries and allowing them to better communicate and organize. Immaterial labor is also key to produce immaterial products such as information, ideas, images and relationships.