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Out of the Postmodern Abyss: Preserving the Rationale for Liberal Planning

Stanley M. Stein

The implications of the postmodernist challenge to planning are examined. Much of the postmodernist critique of modernism is valid, particularly its rejection of the scientistic tenet of modernism—the claim that science is the only source of valid knowledge-and the foundationalism and absolutism which flow from this. However, postmodernists show a dangerous inclination to reject the humanistic tenet of modernism—the valuing of the equal and autonomous individual in both political and moral realms-along with the core idea that progress comes via rational argument. Full-blown postmodernism¹ is also fatally flawed by an inconsistent retention of the very foundationalism and absolute dualism which it purports to reject. The uncritical adoption of postmodernist assumptions could impair our ability to legitimate public planning. An alternative nonmodernist approachneopragmatism—offers a coherent and reasonable basis for justifying planning.

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