Universal Abandon: The Politics of Postmodernism (Volume 1)

by Andrew Ross (Editor)

Universal Abandon was first published in 1989. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. In recent years, the debate about postmodernism has become a full-blown, global discussion about the nature and future of it has challenged and redefined the cultural and sexual politics of the last two decades, and is increasingly shaping tomorrow's agenda. Postmodernist culture is a medium in which we all live, no matter how unevenly its effects are felt across the jagged spectrum of color, gender, class, sexual, orientation, region, and nationality. But it is also a culture that proclaims its abandonment of the universalist foundations of Enlightenment thought in the West. At a time when interests can no longer be universalized, the question Whose interests are served by this "universal abandon"? Universal Abandon is the first volume in a new series entitled Cultural Politics, edited by the Social Text collective. This collection tackles a wider range of cultural and political issues than are usually addressed in the debates about postmodernism—color, ethnicity, and neocolonialism; feminism and sexual difference; popular culture and the question of everyday life—as well as some political and philosophical matters that have long been central to the Western tradition. Together, the contributors provide no consensus about the politics of postmodernism; they insist, rather, that "universal abandon?" remain a question and not an answer. The Anders Stephanson, Chantal Mouffe, Stanley Aronowitz, Ernesto Laclau, Nancy Fraser, Linda Nicholson, Meaghan Morris, Paul Smith, Laura Kipnis, Lawrence Grossberg, Abigail Solomon-Godeau, George Yudice, Jacqueline Rose, and Hal Foster. Andrew Ross teaches English at Princeton University and is the author of The Failure of Modernism .

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Andrew Ross is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, and a social activist. A contributor to The Nation, the Village Voice, New York Times, and Artforum, he is the author of many books, including, most recently, Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World’s Least Sustainable City and Nice Work if You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times.

Reviews

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Ross has edited an intriguing set of essays on postmodernism. Highlights? Chantal Mouffe's essay on radical democracy is exceptionally good. This presages her book on the subject and provides a provocative analysis. There is an interesting interview with Fredric Jameson. Some other thinkers worth reading: Stanley Aronowitz, Ernesto Laclau, Nancy Fraser, and Linda Nicholson (an essay on "an encounter between feminism and postmodernism"). The other essays range widely in their topical coverage. As with many edited works, there is some unevenness in quality and focus, but this is made up for by a set of really outstanding essays.