entire book - Chris Hables Gray

[ 82 ] The Present
democracy, and nationalism—although technoscience has grown in
cultural power until it dwarfs the others in relative terms. But there
has been a breakdown of the modernist view that science is value free;
in postmodernism the demonology of science coexists with its ritual
adoration.
• Knowledge is seen as situated, specific, not always generalizable by
some; at the same time numerous others believe in potentially
hegemonic epistemologies, almost all of which are at odds with each
other. Yet, there is order. The discourse of "natural" rules, mediated
by science and filtered through rationality, oversees a domination of
no domination. The market, the battle, and the scientific method
determine most of the choices offered in the dominant discourse.
• There is an emphasis on the metarules over the rules of particular
systems.
• There is a tremendous increase in speed, and the Cartesian grid is now
a Cartesian box.
• Human-machine culture proliferates.
These themes all appear with a vengeance in postmodern war. To understand
how this is a break with ritual, ancient, and modern war will require a long
detour into history.