Paradigms and Postmodern Politics from an Islamic Perspective

Abstract

The paradigm shifts from the 1950s to the 1980s in political science are
best explained with reference to the encounter with the Other, an encounter
which has three stages: first, the self-confident representation of the Other
which is characteristic of modernity; second, the fear of and desire to control
the Other which is characteristic of the end of modernity; and third, the
hyperrealization and trivialization of the Other which is characteristic of
postmodernity. This encounter with the Other takes place within a larger
discourse context or episteme. The epistemic shifts, then, must also be
considered.
Paradigm Shift
Foucault’s concept of archaeology includes the idea that scientific systems
are valid within their own contexts. Thus each piece of historical data must
be judged and assessed in its own stratum or context. In a less sophisticated
fashion, Kuhn has taken this idea of historical context and cultural relativism
and come up with a theory of scientific revolution. Kuhn correctly identifies
the science textbook genre as the received history of normal science, a genre
which incorporates the myth of the steady cumulative process of science.
The textbook mythology traces the history of great white men and great
experiments as they contributed their energies to the irresistible march of
scientific progress. Kuhn demonstrates that Aristotelian dynamics or caloric
thermodynamics are in fact internally systematic and scientific and are therefore
just as valid as contemporary dynamics or thermodynamics. In reference to
their “fit” with nature, an earth-centered astronomy is just as valid as a suncentered
astronomy. What happens is that when the questions change, and
questions are asked which strain an earth-centered astronomy, a paradigm ...