The Risk Society And Beyond

Risk society and beyond traces the evolution of Ulrich Beck's ideas as expressed in Risk Society (1992) and expands into previously unforeseen risk areas, such as genetics and cyberspace.

Ulrich Beck's best selling Risk Society established risk on the sociological agenda. It brought together a wide range of issues centering on environmental, health and personal risk, provided a rallying ground for researchers and activists in a variety of social movements and acted as a reference point for state and local policies in risk management. The Risk Society and Beyond charts the progress of Beck's ideas and traces their evolution. It demonstrates why the issues raised by Beck reverberate widely throughout social theory and covers the new risks that Beck did not foresee, associated with the emergence of new technologies, genetic and cybernetic. The book is unique because it offers both an introduction to the main arg

Bringing together cutting edge academics and researchers, Beyond the Risk Society provides an understanding of the relevance and impact of the concept of risk in various subject areas. Contributions by domain experts critically evaluate the way in which theoretical risk perspectives have influenced their fields of interest, offering the opportunity to reflect upon the problems and possibilities for future work on risk.

An analysis of the condition of Western societies that will take its place as a core text of contemporary sociology alongside earlier typifications of society as postindustrial, and current debates about the social dimensions of the postmodern

This panoramic analysis of the condition of Western societies has been hailed as a classic. This first English edition has taken its place as a core text of contemporary sociology alongside earlier typifications of society as postindustrial and current debates about the social dimensions of the postmodern. Underpinning the analysis is the notion of the `risk society'. The changing nature of society's relation to production and distribution is related to the environmental impact as a totalizing, globalizing economy based on scientific and technical knowledge becomes more central to social organization and social conflict.

What does it mean to live in `risk society'? How does the idea of risk change how we live with each other? Risk currently dominates individual and collective consciousness. Globally, insecurity is related to terrorism, pollution, global epidemics and famine, yet smoking, sunlight and travel have also become major preoccupations. This book provides a powerful and lucid account of risk in society today. Denney critically examines the social construction of risk, by considering a range of social theories, addressing the literature and providing an authoritative guide to the key issues raised. An analysis of the nature of risk to aspects of everyday life – of the meanings which have been assigned to notions of risk – is also considered. Finally, global themes such as terrorism, global regulation governance and developments in international relations are examined. This book will be required reading for students of risk within the fields of Sociology, International Relations and Media, Culture and Communications.

Twenty years ago Ulrich Beck published Risk Society, a book that called our attention to the dangers of environmental catastrophes and changed the way we think about contemporary societies. During the last two decades, the dangers highlighted by Beck have taken on new forms and assumed ever greater significance. Terrorism has shifted to a global arena, financial crises have produced worldwide consequences that are difficult to control and politicians have been forced to accept that climate change is not idle speculation. In short, we have come to see that today we live in a world at risk. A new feature of our world risk society is that risk is produced for political gain. This political use of risk means that fear creeps into modern life. A need for security encroaches on our liberty and our view of equality. However, Beck is anything but an alarmist and believes that the anticipation of catastrophe can fundamentally change global politics. We have the opportunity today to reconfigure power in terms of what Beck calls a 'cosmopolitan material politics’. World at Risk is a timely and far-reaching analysis of the structural dynamics of the modern world, the global nature of risk and the future of global politics by one of the most original and exciting social thinkers writing today.