How useful are postmodern critiques for contemporary social policy?

I think that Postmodern critiques are very useful for contemporary social policy because they guarantee an inclusion of voice.

Postmodernism is not an all- encompassing, absolutist statement.  When Derrida talks about Postmodern deconstruction, there is an emphasis on the questioning of underlying assumptions.  In Postmodern critiques, there is an analysis of values.  This can apply to authorial intent, individual action, but also to social policy.  When Postmodernism offers a critique of social policy, it scrutinizes...

I think that Postmodern critiques are very useful for contemporary social policy because they guarantee an inclusion of voice.

Postmodernism is not an all- encompassing, absolutist statement.  When Derrida talks about Postmodern deconstruction, there is an emphasis on the questioning of underlying assumptions.  In Postmodern critiques, there is an analysis of values.  This can apply to authorial intent, individual action, but also to social policy.  When Postmodernism offers a critique of social policy, it scrutinizes why things are the way they are. 

I think that this is very useful to contemporary social policy because it prevents the belief that there are no more problems.  Contemporary social policy is geared towards providing blanket solutions.  When people form social policy, they do so to "solve" a problem. In solving a problem, another side might go silent because of the faith in the problem being "solved."  In these instances, contemporary social policy is seen as "totalizing," or representing the whole of something.

Postmodern critiques are important because they stress that while one problem might be solved, another one might exist. By its very definition, Postmodernism denies totality.  As a result of rejecting an approach that embraces "the answer," different points of view emerge.  Postmodern critiques will always keep pushing the envelope in suggesting the need for more examination and greater inclusion of voices.  This is a good thing. Societies that do not value a multiplicity of voices run the risk of silencing them.  This reality is avoided in a Postmodern critique.

We can see the role that Postmodern critiques play in today's world. At one point in time,  globalization was seen as "the answer."  It was perceived as a totalizing answer because "everyone" had jobs, while greater wealth and opportunity emerged. However, Postmodern critiques have allowed people to understand that with globalization, wealth inequality and different forms of economic abuse have emerged.  Different Postmodern critiques of social policy helped to convince Americans that the Patriot Act, passed after the attacks of September 11, should be reexamined. Contemporary Postmodern critiques of social policy regarding the use of police force have emerged in the last year or two when it comes to how people of color are being treated. Postmodern social critiques are extremely valuable to contemporary social policy because they prompt reexamination and reevaluation of held beliefs, ensuring that voices are not silenced through the drive for absolute totality.