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At last, a short and authoritative critical introduction to one of the most talked about and most misunderstood concepts of current times. Barry Smart provides a clear and readable discussion for students which also manages to be a shrewd and stimulating contribution to the debate about modernity and postmodernity. Brightly observed and totally trustworthy it will occupy a central place in all introductions to the concept of postmodernity

"Late Modernity/Postmodernity" published on by Oxford University Press.

Media, War and Postmodernity investigates how conflict and international intervention have changed since the end of the Cold War, asking why Western military operations are now conducted as high-tech media spectacles, apparently more important for their propaganda value than for any strategic aims. Discussing the humanitarian interventions of the 1990s and the War on Terror, the book analyzes the rise of a postmodern sensibility in domestic and international politics, and explores how the projection of power abroad is undermined by a lack of cohesion and purpose at home. Drawing together debates from a variety of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives, Philip Hammond argues that contemporary warfare may be understood as 'postmodern' in that it is driven by the collapse of grand narratives in Western societies and constitutes an attempt to recapture a sense of purpose and meaning.

Although sociology's concern with modernity threatens the discipline's viability from a postmodern perspective, it is asserted that postmodernism has actually revitalized sociological inquiry. Despite the prevalence of Talcott Parsons's structural-functionalism paradigm in sociological inquiry, it is contended that sociology is actually characterized by plurality & difference. The centrality of processes of individualization & socialization to the emergence of sociology, differences in the attitudes of protosociologists (eg, Auguste Comte & Karl Marx) & early-20-century sociologists (especially Emile Durkheim & Max Weber) concerning modern society, & the dominance of US sociologists throughout the 20th century are discussed. It is claimed that sociology is essentially a postmodern discipline in the sense that it currently emphasizes the study of cultural differences. It is concluded that postmodernity has witnessed & accelerated the crumbling of traditional models of academic authority; however, the founders of sociology should remain valued. 9 References. J. W. Parker

Considerations devoted to postmodern diplomacy should be preceded by reflection on the phenomenon of postmodernity, because everything, what it expresses, creates some kind of depth of causative powers of changes, which aff ect diplomacy, traditionally connected with state, its foreign policy, raison d'état, reasons and interests, to realisation of which it should serve. The diplomat's mandate is still a mandate coming from state, which they represent and on behalf of which they act. However, on the other hand, diplomatic functions are more and more often attributed to non-state subjects, which have different objectives and tasks to accomplish.