Introduction

The previous lecture explained the ideas of modernization and postmodernization. Now this lecture focuses specifically on traditional, modern and post-modern theories of emancipation, a concept closely linked with justice. For this we first need to define the term ‘emancipation’. Emancipation refers to liberation. Now to explore the concept of liberation we need to answer a number of questions: who is to be liberated? From what? Is it liberation of a man, a group or soul? Is it liberation from unjust social conditions such as slavery, wants, exploitative economic and political system, or from dominance of certain groups of men, castes and social groups? Answer to this question depends on your perspective, i.e., on whether you are a traditionalist, a modernist or a postmodernist. Moreover, in exploration of liberation or emancipation it needs to be clarified whether we are looking at liberation as a goal or as a process. As a goal it may varyingly refer to the state of political equality, political rights, voting rights, political autonomy or self-determination. As a process it may refer to the acts by which the powerless, the dispossessed and those deprived of their rights acquire their rights. A study of emancipation, therefore, identifies the vulnerable and the powerless, explores the causes of their powerlessness, and suggest ways of empowering them. Needless to say, social theory has a significant role in developing models of emancipation. Accordingly, one may distinguish between modern and postmodern theories of emancipation.