POSTMODERNITY AS A SPACE OF IDENTITY DECONSTRUCTION: A PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS OF SOCIOCULTURAL SHIFTS

Abstract

B a c k g r o u n d . The article provides a philosophical analysis of postmodernity as a space of identity deconstruction, where global, technological, and cultural transformations have radically altered the modes of human self-representation. The author interprets postmodernity not merely as a cultural-historical stage but as a specific ontological condition in which traditional forms of identity – national, gender, religious, professional – undergo dissolution and are replaced by multiple, hybrid, and performative models. Within the framework of the information society, identity is conceptualized as a continuous process of construction, reflecting the crisis of a stable "self" and forming new approaches to the understanding of human subjectivity.

M e t h o d s . The methodological foundation of the study is an interdisciplinary approach combining philosophical-cultural, socio-philosophical, hermeneutic, and phenomenological analyses. The research applies the principles of deconstruction (J. Derrida), discourse analysis (M. Foucault), and a comparative approach to interpreting the sociocultural shifts that shape modern identity. The article draws upon the ideas of post-structuralism, J. Baudrillard's theory of simulacra, Z. Bauman's concept of "liquid modernity", and J. Butler's ethical performativity.

R e s u l t s . The study substantiates that postmodernity has generated fragmentation and multiplicity of identity, which now manifests in networked, virtual, and culturally hybrid forms. Processes of virtualization, hybridization, simulation, and digitalization foster a new type of subjectivity – contingent, dynamic, and open to perpetual self-creation. The author demonstrates that, despite the seemingly crisis-ridden nature of these processes, the deconstruction of identity opens a philosophical space for a new ethics of coexistence, dialogue, and cultural pluralism. Particular attention is devoted to the Ukrainian context, where the ongoing war has intensified the need to reconsider national identity, values, and cultural subjectivity.

C o n c l u s i o n s. Postmodernity emerges not as an age of destruction but as a laboratory for new forms of human existence. The deconstruction of identity reveals the potential of freedom, creativity, and intercultural understanding. The individual of the post-postmodern era does not possess a fixed identity but continually creates it, transforming self-knowledge into an ongoing process of interaction, interpretation, and becoming.