‘Social Landscapes: Continuity and Change'

In so far as it is possible to isolate a distinctively social world, the starting point for discussion must be anchored in the cultural significance of postmodernism. The term ‘postmodern’ has become synonymous with a new fluidity and flexibility for social life as it engages with the dynamism of the so-called ‘new times’. Although interpretations of postmodernism and of its relationship with capitalism, sexism and racism vary (Harvey, 1989; Bondi, 1990; Cooke, 1990), the term is widely associated with the dissolution – at least at the level of experience – of old social categories (especially ‘classes’) and with the creation of new opportunities for the restructuring (or destructuring) of society.