A World in Chaos: Social Crisis and the Rise of Postmodern Cinema

by Carl Boggs, Thomas Pollard

A World in Chaos: Social Crisis and the Rise of Postmodern Cinema traces the evolution of postmodern cinema through its multiple and overlapping expressions. Through an analysis of films such as American Beauty, Blade Runner, Natural Born Killers, and Thelma and Loiuse , Carl Boggs and Thomas Pollard explore the historical and theoretical shift from the long era of modernity to an emergent postmodernity and examine its intersection with film culture. Unlike most works on media studies, Boggs and Pollard bring together elements of sociology, history, economics, literature, communications, and pop culture to fully explore the complex developmental interaction between film and society.

The resulting work illuminates the different, often conflicted and contradictory, currents at work in the film industry that long ago departed from the ritualized practices of the classical studio system. Engagingly and clearly written, A World in Chaos is perfect for film and pop culture enthusiasts as well as everyone interested in the role of film in American society.

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Carl Boggs is Professor of Social Sciences at National University in Los Angeles. He is the author of Gramsci's Marxism; The Politics of Eurocommunism (with David Plotke); The Impasse of European Communism; The Two Revolutions: Gramsci and the Crisis of Western Marxism; and Social Movements and Political Power.