Ulrich Beck was a German sociologist best known for developing the concept of the risk society in his 1986 book of the same name, arguing that advanced industrial modernity had produced a new kind of society organized around the management and distribution of manufactured risks, such as nuclear, chemical, and ecological hazards, that are global in scope and not confined by class or national boundaries the way earlier forms of inequality were. Beck's related theory of reflexive modernization held that modern society had begun to turn its own methods of rational calculation and risk assessment back upon itself, generating a second, more uncertain and self-critical stage of modernity. His work became a central reference point in debates over globalization, environmental politics, and individualization.
Facts
BirthplaceStolp, Germany (now Słupsk, Poland) 1 Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionCoined the terms risk society, second modernity and reflexive modernization; work focused on uncontrollability, ignorance and uncertainty in the modern age. 1 Notable WorkRisk society (concept coined with Anthony Giddens in the 1980s) 1 Connections
Associated With
Beck risk society thesis analyzed how individualization and new global risks strain the institutional foundations of the twentieth-century welfare state.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Germany, nationality there.
Sources
1. Ulrich Beck (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, opening sentence (birth date)
Ulrich Beck (15 May 1944-1 January 2015) was a German sociologist, and one of the most cited social scientists in the world during his lifetime.
Lead paragraph, opening sentence (birth year)
Ulrich Beck (15 May 1944-1 January 2015) was a German sociologist, and one of the most cited social scientists in the world during his lifetime.
Life section (death sentence)
He died of a myocardial infarction on 1 January 2015, at the age of 70.
Life section (death sentence, year)
He died of a myocardial infarction on 1 January 2015, at the age of 70.
Lead paragraph, opening sentence (nationality)
Ulrich Beck (15 May 1944-1 January 2015) was a German sociologist, and one of the most cited social scientists in the world during his lifetime.
Lead paragraph, second sentence (defining contribution)
His work focused on questions of uncontrollability, ignorance and uncertainty in the modern age, and he coined the terms "risk society" and "second modernity" or "reflexive modernization".
Research contributions section, risk society paragraph opening sentence
Risk society was coined by Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens during the 1980s.
Life section, opening sentence (birthplace)
Beck was born in the Pomeranian town of Stolp, Germany (now Słupsk in Poland), in 1944, and grew up in Hanover.
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