Postmodernism has been Deconstructed. What is Next?
The village I lived in along the southern coast of Kenya had a socialist nature to it. Within that village, commodities were communal and meant to be shared. If I bought a ladder, it naturally was for the collective use of the entire village and can be returned to me upon request. There was a simplistic beauty in the collective sharing. Yet, it was also oppressive. When a neighbor bought a set of spoons for his family, one by one they all began to disappear until he was left with one spoon. In such a culture, his purchase of the spoons was seen as him getting ahead of the others and so he was always forced back into the poverty of the whole.
Over the last few months, we have read quite a bit about how identity politics and liberalism have gone too far. Left to their own end these ideologies have self-destructed. In this week’s reading by Stephen Hicks, he demonstrates how postmodern thought has undermined previous Western theologies. His book, Explaining Postmodernism, covers lots of historical philosophical development and deconstructs postmodernism from a secular, classical liberal perspective.
One aspect of the book I want to focus on is the argument between socialism and capitalism. On its own, socialism sounds great. The idea of equality among others, the restraint of the elite and care for the downtrodden even sounds biblical. We can read about how the early church in Acts had all things in common and there was a collective concern for the poor.
Classic Marxist socialism has four major claims:
- “Capitalism is exploitative: The rich enslave the poor….
- Socialism, by contrast, is humane and peaceful…
- Capitalism is ultimately less productive than socialism: the rich get richer; the poor get poorer…
- Socialist economies, by contrast, will be more productive and usher in a new era of prosperity….The disaster was that all four of socialism’s claims were refuted in theory and practice.”[1]
Why has socialism never actually been lived out well? Why has it always led to such destructive tendencies? Hicks writes, “Socialist practice has time and time again proved itself more brutal than the worst dictatorships in history prior to the twentieth century.”[2] Is it because the societies that have done this have tried to do this from an atheistic perspective? Can socialism work if built on values born out of the kingdom of heaven? What if socialism was not grounded in atheism but rather in the ethics of Jesus Christ?
In a more recently published book, Strange New World, written by a Reformed Christian, Carl Trueman, also details the historical trajectory of philosophy. His book, while focusing on the sexual revolution, highlights how these traditional philosophies intersect with Christian thought and theology. He writes, “it is my belief, however, that these elements of what we call the sexual revolution are actually symptoms of this wider turn to expressive individualism in the west… Is my contention in this book that expressive individualism provides the broad backdrop to these aspects of what is commonly called the sexual revolution.”[3] While I might not fully agree on the practical applications to the issues Trueman lays out in his book, I admire the desire to approach postmodern beliefs from a Christian perspective.
But what next? Is it possible to apply kingdom of heaven principles to earthly societies? The early church seemed to be able to do it, but they did so outside of the political arena. Furthermore, this church exemplar did not seem to last very long. Socialism worked for the most part in the village setting I referenced above simply because it was limited in scope and rather apolitical.
Has postmodernism run its’ own course to its end as well? The guest speaker on a recent podcast of “Theology in the Raw” seems to think so. Patrick Miller was asked by the host, “Why are we emerging out of postmodernism?” He responds, “What could be more nihilistic than re-electing a thrice divorced, post-postmodern, incredibly cynical dude that everybody seemed to dislike four years ago and saying, you know what though, we’re just going to believe in him… We’re moving out of post modernity into something else.”[4] Miller highlights how Trump could easily be deconstructed but society chose him and wants to believe him anyways. He also highlights how podcaster Joe Rogan, who once would distance himself from theological conversations now wants to engage in discussions on miracles and theology.
When Trump won this last election in November, it was a referendum against the woke-liberal-Left. It was our nation saying we have had too much postmodern deconstruction and identity politics. Our nation wanted the pendulum to stop swinging so far to the Left. Trump’s election has helped usher us into a new era, one that Miller labeled as post-postmodernism but adds that a good name for it really has not yet been coined. Rather than stopping the pendulum from swinging too far to the Left, or pushing it back to the Right, Trump seems to have removed the pendulum all together. The direction we are now going is confusing. Billionaires are forcing us into a recession which will allow the billionaires to get even richer. Will this be the end of liberal capitalism in our country?
Given more space, I would love to highlight Yascha Mounk’s book, The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure.[5] Mounk posits a pathway forward (albeit a human-centered rather than God-centered approach) but in a post-postmodern society is this even possible?
__________________________________________________________
[1] Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Expanded edition (Roscoe, IL.: Ockham’s Razor, 2014), 86–87.
[2] Hicks, 87–88.
[3] Carl R. Trueman, Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution (Wheaton: Crossway, 2022), 24.
[4] Preston Sprinkle, “Being Joyful Outsiders in Our Turbulent Cultural Moment: Patrick Miller,” Audio, Theology in the Raw, accessed March 12, 2025, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/being-joyful-outsiders-in-our-turbulent-cultural-moment/id1018952191?i=1000696488427.
[5] Yascha Mounk, The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure (New York: Penguin Press, 2022).
About the Author
Adam Cheney
I grew up in California, spent five years living along the beautiful coast of Kenya and now find myself working with refugees in the snow crusted tundra of Minnesota. My wife and I have seven children, four of whom have been adopted. I spend my time drinking lots of coffee, working in my garden, and baking sourdough bread.11 responses to “Postmodernism has been Deconstructed. What is Next?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Adam,
I appreciate Theology in the Raw, I can never keep up on all the podcasts I want to listen to. Your visual of the pendulum is interesting.
I agree that socialism may sound ideal, as long as we have a selfish sin nature, it will never work. But I wonder as we work of establish God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, which economic theory should ideally be practiced?
Jeff,
Yeah, I wish theology in the Raw was quite a bit shorter and easier to get through them all. Or, if I had more snow to shovel I would be listening to more podcasts…
When I was in our village I adopted the practice of giving generously with my right hand with my left hand not knowing how much I was giving. Sure, we had to pay our bills, but I found myself giving generously when we had the money and that meant that sometimes we ran out and couldn’t give anymore until the next pay day. It freed me to give and not stress about it.
Thanks Adam. Given that the early church’s version of ‘socialism’ was voluntary and rooted in shared faith and values rather than state enforcement, do you think a faith-based communal model could function sustainably today? If so, what safeguards would be needed to prevent the kind of oppressive dynamics you observed in the Kenyan village?”
Glyn,
I think that in today’s world it would not work well. However, in the kingdom of heaven it will work. So, maybe the early church was a foretaste of what it can look like. Maybe it is a foretaste of what we should strive for? I’d imagine if the people were living by the Holy Spirit and the leaders were undefended, then there could be a Christian group who could replicate this. Maybe this is how some monasteries or convants are designed now? Though these are small and isolated.
Great post Adam.
In you opinion, how can socialism be reimagined or implemented in a way that aligns with the ethics of Jesus Christ, rather than being grounded in atheistic principles?
Shela,
I think that we might see small versions of this in different Christian communities like a convent. But, how to implement it on a larger societal wide scale would seriously be challenging unless everyone was opting in.
Hi Adam, I really enjoyed your post and your discussion on post-postmodernism—it wasn’t something I had considered when reading Hicks. I also appreciated the way you explored whether Christians can apply Kingdom of Heaven principles to earthly societies. I found myself asking the same question, and it led me to reflect on the RARE leadership model and it’s identity group framework. I touched on this in my own post, though it didn’t quite come across as clearly as it did in my head.
It’s unfortunate that the church’s early example of having ‘all things in common’ didn’t endure. What are your thoughts on why this model didn’t last, especially in a Christ-centered way?
Elysse,
Our posts often do follow a similar vein….
I would argue that the Acts model ended rather quickly due to our sinful human nature. I forget the names of the individuals but the husband and wife who lied about selling their home and giving it away was the example of how sin came back into the community and corrupted it. The story highlights the sin nature that still affects humanity after Jesus’s resurrection and before his next return.
Adam, great post. I would add that socialism and capitalism both have elements of the kingdom with in them but cannot really capture the reality of the kingdom without the true King. What are some of the ways we might implement kingdom ethics, regardless of the system?
Great job, Adam. I think about your life in Kenya. You speak of it fondly, yet the spoon example led me to consider the term “tribalism.” From there, my mind shifted to Afghanistan and the fall of their emerging democracy. It seems that tribalism, somewhat like racism, was always lurking under the surface.
You mentioned the Kenyans’ communal lifestyle could be considered a form of socialism. Glyn described the difference as forced communal living vs. voluntary.
What aspect of this book would be helpful if you shared it with a Kenyan friend?
Adam, I like how your post and my experience in Cuba intersect, with regard to socialism/communism, and how that system has been proven over and over again as a failure. As you and others mention in the above comments, with our sinful nature always present, it is challenging to really be able to live in a socialism context.