Sociology

The term modern can be seen to refer to the consciousness of an epoch that would involve and relate itself wholly to the former events thus embracing a look shaped by the transition features from the past to the current. Modernity is characterized by a generation that is literally in motion towards refashioning their world to fit their revolving interests. This generation rejects and opposes the past with a great passion filled with a thirst to conquer new empires (Lyotard, 1991). The motion into the unknown conquest field is done with one hand armed with pen and professionalism while the other hand is armed with sword and acrimony. The spirit of modernity started with an urge of liberalization and equality but resulted to death of many innocent lives. The era was camouflaged in religious causes through which millions sought to have their lives re-branded for eternal good, and therefore its path was unstoppable. The propagators of modernity conquered nature with all its values in their yearning to put an end to poverty and homelessness. This raised the population of the World to great levels of prosperity and high levels of power. However, the remaining part of the world was left in abject poverty and misery. It left behind great scars including the famous First and Second World Wars, the holocaust and the scramble for colonial mastery (Rawls, 2002). Modernity brought in the possibility of industrial age which was the main driving force of the worlds main development agenda, and continues to promise more perks as the information age and advanced technology take up the stage. The developmental agenda sparked up by the spirit of modernity has been used as a bait to call over the rest of the world in joining the momentum of civilization and economic progress. This has brought about unfair competition that has elicited the emergence of a more divided world characterized by overpopulation, poverty and misery (Rawls, 2002). The world has also continuously been threatened by the technology advancement brought by the struggles to achieve modern status.
The term postmodernity, on the other hand, refers to the socio-economic or cultural status that a community is seen to express after the modernity era. In addition, postmodernity can refer to an individuals self response to a community whose values are considered post modernized (Lyotard, 1991). The concept of postmodernity is a more current deity that is shaping up from the values set up by modernity. Its main agenda is to assure freedom for the society from the many aspects that lender communities enslaved. Postmodernity promises a more heterogeneous world where there will be no racism, ethnicity and dominance from some quarters. It is aimed at correcting the wrongs brought about by modernity, effectively opening doors for those who felt left out by the move. However, postmodernity has brought its own excesses with most of its supporters coming from outside Europe who consider having nothing much to loose through their attacks on the establishment. Postmodernity in essence seems to bring an end to ideologies staged by imperialists and socialists (Lyotard, 1991). However, it also posses a threat to nationalist ideas and sets a stage for criticism of global capitalism, underestimating its renown resilience.

The Interface
Societies all over the world have sought to hold and retain their traditions religiously while at the same time seeking to have room for the effective intercourse between modernity and postmodernity. The traditions are seen to have been stuck in the ideals of modernity that have generally been considered as the cure for poverty related challenges (Habermas, 2003). The use of modern values that are seen to be the foundation of the developmental agenda to criticize the tradition norms has risen as a common practice by most reformers (Latour, 1993). In the same way, the traditional values that have seen peace and stability among ethnicities have been in use as a way of fighting the excesses that come with modernity. Most currently, the traditional concepts are being married to the modernity operatives to criticize the postmodernity elements or postmodernity marrying with the tradition values to oppose the modernity practices. The connection between the tradition and postmodernity is fueled by the fact that their common rejection of modernity is a way of retrieving the traditions that were rejected by the modernity proponents. This retrieval of the past rejected traditions is one of the major goals of postmodernity, a fact that makes it more palatable to the traditional proponents (Habermas, 2003).

Geographical Relations to Postmodernity
A series of choices can be brought up when the relationship between various regions and nations is considered against their responses to postmodernity, modernity and traditions (Harvey, 1989). For example, the national values can be exercised to oppose the wrongs propagated by the international similarly the regional and international marriage can be used against the national values the sub-regions can in the same way be used to oppose the regions the regions and the international exercises can also be merged together to fight against the international ones. It is also possible for the national and international wings to merge with an aim of exploiting the smaller geographical regions (Rawls, 2002). It is becoming common for regions and sub-regions to align more and more towards postmodernity because they both enjoy the fragmentation status that it promotes. Similarly, the national proponents are seen to align more in modernity values because national projects are generally considered modern. The relationship of the national and modernity can also be used to explain the reason why both of them are considered oppressive (Habermas, 2003). The traditional values are closely linked with postmodernity because both are seen to reject the values propagated by modernity hence helping in promoting the tradition values that had been shelved by it. Retrieval of traditional practices can be seen as an international move considering that this is where most of the wars on the various types of both modernity and postmodernity emerge from (Harvey, 1989).

Postmodernity Features
Postmodernity is an era of freedom of choice in which no orthodoxy can be adoptable without eliciting some form of irony because all norms are taken to have their own levels of validity. This is as a result of the technological advancement especially in information, the explosive nature of world knowledge and increased use of cybernetics. Postmodernity is closely associated with the explosion of the global scientific and technological advancement that has greatly altered the environment upon which man communicates with the world (Habermas, 2003). Technological advancement and the mushrooming industries are the two main features that characterize postmodernity. Technology has effectively given man the power that drives his functional objectives to run and dominate the world (Lyotard, 1991). The products of the industries and factories that have constituted our day to day activities including cars, microwaves etc is an indicator of what the postmodern mans brain has achieved as life without such products is unbearable. Conceiving the intelligence of man as only features and competence in post modern world is however misleading. In addition to their intelligence, human beings are also surrounded with all manner of weaknesses, faith and sentimental imaginations. Taking intelligence as the only feature in which human beings function is therefore a way of attaching mans total dependence on his intellect meaning that he is under siege and lacks the freedom of operation (Jameson, 1991). Technological advancement and industrial revolution of the postmodern era have by brought a major enlightenment in which man exercises his intelligence and maintains his freedom. This form of enlightenment can be seen as deliberate efforts of the human beings to move from the nature that is characterized by limitations that were brought forth by lack of optimal use of appropriate intelligence (Habermas, 2003). The scientific and technological advancements are however out to destroy the world in which the mans activities are, including his social amenities and traditional norms. This will in essence destroy the mans value system effectively putting his intelligence in a cross road. This challenge will also be enormous in art and will determine its course. This art that is free from sentiments will progressively advance in supremacy and find its way to the industrial culture (Latour, 1993). The opposition to this enlightenment in which gradual advancement of art particularly in architecture is to be witnessed is facing great criticism on how it would eventually present itself in both theory and practice. This is directed at recreating a polyphonic nature of artistic language to suit the postmodern era. Man had however created this form of language before using his varying opinions, imaginations and faith. In the current times, this concept presents itself as postmodernity.

All human beings with freedom of choice and imagination will respond to modernity differently from one another. In the process, one will however not pull back to the ordinary conceptualization in which postmodernity is considered as nature given (Habermas, 2003). The products are instead considered to have been human intellectual work through technology and industrial advancement. This notion expands the status in which the general human environment is conceived with its linkage to the world in that by being humanized they effectively lose their natural reality. In this form of conceptualization, the world is seen as constituting art and aesthetics and will therefore give birth to a new art spectrum in which man and his intellectual form will take the centre stage. Concepts that are intolerable in modernity will not give an appropriate environment for pluralism to thrive and will allow a nature in which the polyphony of art will thrive. This polyphony of the art will also compose the foundation for mans freedom (Habermas, 2003). Man will be at a position to disentangle his brain from the closets where it was forcefully closed up by the modernity ways of operation and with this freedom he is able to assume a new value system.

The postmodernity freedom will give man a more humane face and the art concepts that were treated as useless by modernity will be seen to prosper in the postmodenity era. This demonstrates a rediscovery of humanity, particularly the individual self (Harvey, 1989). The modernity had imposed dominance propagated by intelligence in which the individuals creativity was not given a chance. However, postmodernity gives a room for individuals to offer their diverse creativity in molding their world. There are differences in the way people think and reason and consequently, there will be diversity in the work from their creativity and independent judgments. As a result, postmodernity assumes an exemplary form of individualistic mode of approach to life characterized by two main concepts, these are, freedom and creativity. Through these concepts, the era of postmodernity is viewed as fully new and driven by its independence and innovative nature (Habermas, 2003). These two concepts give postmodernity its meaning and are effective in both the information and art related requests as well as in social, political and economic day to day lives. For instance, the political status of modernity is seen in the state-nation linkages whereas, the postmodernity status is basically characterized by liberal democracy. In addition, modernitys economic status is static whereas the postmodern embraces a free market economy (Jameson, 1991).

Transition
It is obvious that the Modernity era is being succeeded by the postmodern era however, the concepts of postmodern era are so much interwoven to those of modernity era that a border line between the two is not obvious (Jameson, 1991). In addition, the issue of postmodern remains ambiguous and controversial following the fact that the concept of postmodernity has been taken and employed by many as to imply or refer to the sequential nature of its existence that is, coming after modernity. However, postmodernity does not necessarily mean that it has been taken from a modernity era that has ceased to exist instead the term may also be used to indicate the close relationship that can be seen between modernity and postmodernity. The transition to postmodernity is closely linked to pluralism and individuals choices (Habermas, 2003). Although modernity to some extend was seen to have similar elements, postmodernity recollects such elements and shoots them to greater heights. The concept of individuals identity which is largely based on the effectiveness in the modern communication indicates that the underlying values and beliefs stand to lose their state of coherence. The individuals that make up the system are therefore left in uncertain environment in which they are emerging in an overwhelming world of information and communication. This situation may leave the individuals with a general feeling of helplessness that would consequently deter them from getting back to the world of intimate relationships (Habermas, 2003).

The shift to postmodernity has poised a string of consequences that that has affected social scientists, particularly those participating actively in the talks on its ethics and morality. In postmodernity, there is an essential interlink between individual self and others that is characterized by intense processing of global linkages and the rising of intensed use of advanced information technologies.

Postmodernity has effectively ushered in a new world in which the freedom of choice is easily mingled with relevant cultural values (Cooper, 1991). The freedom of choice has opened up the world of uncertainties that is considered not only as a temporary nuisance towards the achievement of ones objectives but more significantly as an important tool and medium in realizing such objectives. The room of uncertainty forces the players to shift into the world of innovations and creativity that has characterized the postmodernity era (Habermas, 2003).

Conclusion
Considering the gains that modernity values have brought to the world, it is eminent for many to state that a retreat to our tradition values is uncalled for. However, with the options and freedom offered by the postmodernity, it is possible to revisit our tradition while enjoying the freedom of creativity rather than being tied in the dictatorship of modernity. Postmodernity has offered a chance for many players to regain liberation but it is good to be careful and concentrate more on the more important liberation, while trying to avoid being drawn to concentrate on the postmodernity as the means to achieve such liberation as that would be driving us to yet another form of slavery. There is effectively nothing much new to postmodernity, though the means and the way it is said and carried is new, and this fact feeds the human synergy, setting stage for greater production. The concept of postmodernity is therefore currently accessible to all build on the foundations set earlier by both the tradition and modernity era (Cooper, 1991).

With the transition to postmodernity, it is significant to note the great services offered by the modernity era. Most importantly is the literature freedom that was set from entangling nature of the tradition values. Modernity offered a hand in the violent struggle that was necessary to demolish the structures of tradition values to allow new ideas to be entrenched. As the glory of modernity fades away giving room to postmodernity, there is an emerging freedom and creativity that build the faith of the players. Many historians however, fear that a new wave of oppression may be on its way (Habermas, 2003). For a successful and effective postmodernity era, it is paramount that the relationship that exists between regions, including national and international platforms, be strengthened.