Postmodernism as pseudohistory: Continuities in the complexities of social action

Problems of historical and cultural specificity have returned recently to the foreground of sociological discussion, propelled in large part by debate over modernity and postmodemity, modernism and post- modernism. Though in recent years tius debate came to sociology largely from outside, it is a worthy renewal of some of the key concerns of the classical social theorists who struggled to identify the core feature distinguishing modem Western society from other epochs and sociocultura formations.