Postmodern research: no grounding or privilege, just free-floating trouble making

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Philosophy
• Health Policy

Background:

• Postmodernism faces criticism for lacking authoritative explanations for policy.
• Its skepticism challenges the basis for emancipatory work and social transformation.
• Nurses and other advocates struggle to address oppressive regimes under postmodernism.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review criticisms of postmodernism and proposed solutions.
• To examine the impact of managerialism on UK National Health Service nursing.
• To explore postmodernism's utility in challenging dominant truths.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of postmodernism criticisms and solutions.
• Analysis of recent research on managerialism in UK healthcare.
• Application of deconstructive literary theory.

Main Results:

• Existing solutions to postmodernism's challenges are often inconsistent or inadequate.
• Managerialism in the UK National Health Service exemplifies the issues.
• A rhetorical agonistics of undecidability offers a way forward.

Conclusions:

• Postmodernism can be a mandate for challenging dominant, oppressive narratives.
• It empowers disruption rather than championing specific group viewpoints.
• This approach fosters critical engagement with established truths and rationalities.