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SSC Sociology QUESTION #1677
Question 1
The postmodern turn in sociological theory is most fundamentally characterized by its rejection of which intellectual legacy of the Enlightenment and classical sociology?
  • The application of quantitative, statistical methodologies in social research✔️
  • The overemphasis on individual agency at the expense of social structure
  • Totalizing grand narratives, universal truth claims, and metanarratives that purport to explain all of social reality from a single foundational standpoint
  • The structural-functionalist emphasis on social consensus and system integration
Correct Answer Explanation
Postmodernism's central theoretical move in sociology is the rejection of grand narratives (Lyotard's 'metanarratives') — universal, totalizing frameworks such as Marxism, functionalism, or Enlightenment rationalism that claim to explain all of social reality. Postmodernists argue for the plurality of local, contextual, partial perspectives and the inherent instability of meaning and knowledge claims.