Ulrich Beck was born in Berlin in 1944. He taught sociology for many years in London and Munich, and is considered one of the most influential contemporary sociologists, conducting extensive research on modernity, globalization, individualization, and ecological issues. Among his most influential studies is that of risk society, which Beck describes as a society literally out of control , a place where all certainty disappears.
Do we live in a riskier society than in the past?
Today, we cannot say that we live in a riskier society than previous ones because we are not allowed to make a certain quantitative estimate of the phenomenon. What we can observe, however, according to sociologist Ulrich Beck, is the way in which the perception of risk has changed over time, that is, how the quality of control is exercised by both individuals and institutions, better known as the uncontrollability of the decision-making consequences that postmodern society produces.
In seeking a clearer understanding of pre-modern versus post-modern risk, we must keep in mind that in pre-modern culture, dangers and fears were attributed primarily to God, the gods, or nature, tending to see safer living conditions in institutional promises of modernization, and thus in the strengthening of markets, science, and technology. Today, however, the insecurities, risks, and threats we face are attributed almost exclusively to progress and modernization, and phenomena such as climate change, terrorism, and ecological disasters increasingly appear to be the consequence of human action.
The proliferation of risks according to Ulrich Beck
For this reason, according to Beck, the proliferation of risks is functionally connected to the promotion of modernity, a mechanism that creates a new model of social cohesion in which the distribution of wealth in the Welfare State is interconnected with the distribution of risk, reflected on three levels: temporal, spatial, and social. Temporal, because new risks often take a long time to manifest, and their consequences can remain latent for years; spatial, when new risks, thanks to globalization, transcend national borders; and finally, social, to the extent that social complexity prevents a full analysis of the causes and consequences of risks.
Thus, while awareness of risks is growing, full control of them is unattainable. This is why, according to the sociologist, the paradox of postmodern culture is evident: institutions that promised greater security have created the opposite, raising the awareness that the world we live in is out of control and that the risks we face are present everywhere and, for this reason, cannot be limited spatially, socially, or temporally.
Is risk perception the same across the world?
When we talk about a global risk society, we must not think of a homogenization of the world because not all cultures and regions are affected equally by risks, especially ecological, terrorist, and economic ones.
For this reason, Beck argues that risks are unequal across the world , with diverse facets and shifting manifestations that vary according to historical, cultural, and political contexts. In peripheral areas, for example, global risks are not perceived as endogenous phenomena, meaning they can be countered through autonomous national decision-making processes, but as exogenous phenomena , contributing to decisions made by other countries. Thus, people in such contexts tend to feel like hostages and victims of these processes.
Global risks
According to the sociologist, risk society draws its lifeblood from the increase in global risks. Thus, while in industrial society the logic of wealth prevailed, as the only way out of poverty, today the logic of risk dominates modern society, and advanced societies produce less wealth and more risk. The hallmark of risk society lies in the fact that collective decisions entail global consequences, which undermine the promise of control. Risk, in fact, can no longer be considered an uncertain event capable of negatively or positively influencing the achievement of specific results, but becomes the global horizon within which individuals, society, and organizations operate.
For this reason, Beck speaks of a second modernity that effectively produces an unpredictable amount of risks , blurring the line between nature and society, where new technologies can negatively impact the environment in both the short and long term. In the second modernity, therefore, the criteria for calculating risk would elude humanity, becoming an indecipherable value capable of generating a state of unpredictable insecurity, also known as that feeling of social insecurity that humans experience daily, but to varying degrees depending on their context. Consider, for example, nuclear energy or waste management, or science in the broad sense, which has become a bearer of risk and is losing the consensus and infallibility it enjoyed in pre-modern society, which allowed it to proceed with the trust of citizens.
Risk Society and a New Form of Capitalism for Ulrich Beck
In addition to the issues related to the relationship between science and the environment, Beck also observes a new form of capitalism, one devoid of social classes, which entails two important consequences: the first is the isolation of the individual , who seeks self-realization; the second is the destandardization of work , which is freed from traditional ideas of a work environment and a permanent position. The new capitalism, according to the sociologist, leads to widespread mobility in professional careers and employment relationships. Thus, in Western countries, we increasingly see the presence of isolated professionals who are their own bosses and therefore bear full responsibility for their own professional careers.
In Beck's view, the changes in post-industrial society can be summarized in the loss of class identity, the crisis of the nuclear family, and the flexibilization of work. Furthermore, women's access to the workforce, the flexibility of working hours, and their precariousness have accelerated the process of individualization, where social class bonds are breaking down. Furthermore, rising unemployment exposes a lonely individual, no longer supported by the community and forced to manage the loss of a job independently. Given this, how can post-modern society be defined if not as a society of uncertainty and insecurity ? A place where man is alone facing the new risks that modernization creates.
Sara The Strawberry
Bibliography
U. Beck, Risk Society: Toward a Second Modernity, Carrocci, 2013
