Social Justice Is the Progeny of Postmodern Theory; I Call Contemporary Social Justice “Practical Postmodernism” Or “Applied Postmodern Theory”

The derailment of academic institutions harms not only students but it also threatens the broader society, not only by undermining faith in knowledge claims but also by prejudicing the institutions supposed to cultivate the well-versed, thinking, and reasonable people required in a democratic society – people capable of open inquiry, debate, disagreement, and conflict resolution, without recourse to masks and knives.

How did this treacherous situation come to pass? How did the social justice creed gain dominance in academia? How and why was it made official policy in most colleges and universities in North America? Where did this social justice movement come from and how has it managed to permeate the broader culture and contend for domination?

To address these questions, we must look at the lineage of contemporary social justice. As I’ve said, social justice is the progeny of postmodern theory. Its beliefs, practices, values, and techniques bear the unmistakable birthmarks of postmodernism – although one must know what to look for. For this reason, and because social justice is having such a real-world impact, I call contemporary social justice “practical postmodernism,” or “applied postmodern theory.” These phrases should strike reasonable readers familiar with postmodernism as oxymoronic. How could such an obscure, anti- pragmatic, and nearly indescribable set of propositions as postmodern theory ever be applied or made practical?, they rightly ask. By being put into practice, I answer. Contemporary social justice is the very impractical “practical” application of postmodern theory to everyday life.

--Michael Rectenwald, preface to Springtime for Snowflakes: “Social Justice” and Its Postmodern Parentage (Nashville, TN: New English Review Press, 2018), xiii.