The purpose of this study is to analyze today's political development from a hypermodern and metamodern perspective. The starting point has been to answer the question of what comes after postmodernism and the ambition has been to contribute to an increased understanding of the contemporary world.
The theoretical approach is based on a social constructivist and evolutionary biological perspective. The method is multidisciplinary and based in discourse analysis and memetics. A broad text definition has formed the basis for the selection of the materials of the study. A text is seen as a web of meaning and both literary works, internet videos and podcasts have been used as a source of information.
The results show that it is not clear if hypermodernism or metamodernism will be the dominant paradigm in the future. On the contrary, this study points to the conclusion that hypermodernism can lead to unsustainable social development because of increased mental illnesses and escalated climate change. However, it also suggests that metamodernism can contribute to a constructive development by creating reconciliation and understanding between different perspectives. In this way, today's increasing polarization can be counteracted.
This essay also shows that the present is characterized by a strong will to explain the world in grand meta-narratives. New political conflicts have been erupting and many traditional dichotomies have been erased, as Internet has changed the conditions for human organization and communication. At the same time a vacuum has been created because neither the modern nor the postmodern ideas succeed to take a hegemonic grasp of the contemporary. Nor do they seem to be able to establish a sufficiently credible basis for the future.
This means that we have ended up in a situation where different memes deconstruct each other without creating a base for a new ground. Postmodernism deconstructs modernism while new movements deconstruct postmodernism. One consequence of this is that the contemporary world is increasingly characterized by uncertainty, confusion and fear.
All of these factors indicate that society is currently changing from one paradigm to another. However, it is not yet clear what the new paradigm will be.