PROSPECTS FOR A CHRISTIAN SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY IN A SHRINKING WORLD

Postmodern society is a "transparent society".It is a society that can be characterized by the implosion of boundaries- "see through " boundaries- both in society and in the sciences of society. This is partially the result of processes of globalisation and de-differentiation that have given rise to pluralism, diversity and fragmentation with relativism as its apparent inevitable consequence. This state of affairs is not regarded as a problem in need of explanation by all schools of thought in social scientific disciplines. Yet, there are also various approaches to the phenomena so characteristic of what has become known as "post-modernity " that do attempt to give some account of what has transpired in our postmodern society. In all these accounts the pivotal notion of "social order "- the contemporary version of the "boundary " issue- is central. What exactly constitute