The Trouble With Theory
by Gavin Kitching
Allen & Unwin, HK$220
The heyday of postmodernism has long passed, but critical theory-bashing remains a fashionable sport. Global anti-pomo warriors tell us that arcane European ideas have overrun universities and high schools, but they rarely pause to consider how much 'theory' is actually taught.
Gavin Kitching, professor of politics at the University of New South Wales in Australia, suggests in The Trouble with Theory: The Educational Costs of Postmodernism that the brightest tots in political science are unwitting victims of an elaborate hoax perverting their intellects. But postmodern theory (or the ragtag cluster of language-orientated, mostly French philosophies that go by its name) was used in less than 13 per cent of undergraduate honours theses from his department during the 23-year period he surveys.
Political science faculties focus overwhelmingly on policy; the rare theorists often battle to teach their interests. Theory-minded students are more likely to work in English, where postmodernism is widely taught alongside - but not, as is often held, at the expense of - the canon. Kitching is pursuing a phantom threat.